My Own Version of the Buffyverse 4
by BuffyL
Summary: UPDATED WITH THE FINAL CHAPTER! Yes, that's right. It says FOUR. I've started the next installment of this series. I hope you all like it. RR if you want it to keep going And I know you do.
1. A New Beginning

A/N As the new seasons begin on TV, there are two very significant shows that are missing. It's obvious what they are. Well, I'm going to do my best to fill the gap. I'm going to continue as much as I possibly can with the Buffy/Angelverse I've created. So, here for you now, is My Own Version of the Buffyverse 4!

Chapter 1

Buffy sat on the headstone watching the dirt below her. Summer had come and gone and fall was in the air. The new Council was now at the Hyperion, which was buzzing with work, and she was at the head of it all. Giles came to visit every now and then, but he mostly stayed in England where the training camp was located. The top two floors of the Hyperion were turned into big penthouses for what was left of the Scooby Gang. Willow and Xander shared a penthouse on the fifth floor. Faith and Spike shared the other on the fifth floor. Illyria had chosen a regular room to herself on the fifth floor. And the entire sixth floor was turned into an apartment for Buffy, Angel, Dawn, and Connor to live in.

The original Slayer had decided to go out on a routine patrol to get away from the hustle and bustle of Council work. For most people, going out and facing down newly risen vampires would be a good reason to stay in and hide, but for Buffy, it was look therapy. An outlet for all her frustrations. The hunt cleared her mind and she was able to think straight. It felt good to get back to the basics. Even if basic was a foreign word to her these days. Being the head Slayer was terrifying and hard work. She actually missed being CEO of an evil law firm. Maybe because her husband had been co-CEO and it had taken a load off of her. Not this time. He was only there to help the other Slayers. Buffy was on her own as head Slayer.

The dirt below her began to stir. "Finally!" She hopped down and stood at the foot of the grave, stake at the ready. The new vampire slowly crawled out of its grave and glared menacingly at her, baring its teeth. The vamp had once been a woman named Martha Jones. She had been the single mother of three kids and a nurse at Ceder-Sanai. Buffy had read about her death in the paper and the way she had died had been the same old tale of a vamp-attack. Now, Martha pulled herself out of her grave and lunged at Buffy. "Not tonight, Martha." Buffy plunged the stake into the vamp's heart and she exploded into a spray of dust.

It was always hard to be the one who knew the answers to all the mysterious, unsolved murders. Especially in cases like this. The woman had had a family. Buffy knew what that was like, being a mother to her teenage son, Connor, and a guardian to her teenage sister, Dawn. Pocketing the stake, Buffy moved away from the now-silent grave and headed back towards the entrance of the cemetery. Just like most of her nights, the Slayer was once again surrounded by death. It was tiresome. Buffy was 23 years old and for the past nine years, she had been battling the death non-stop. She had even succumbed to death twice in her life. Maybe she'd be able to live at least one day as a normal 23 year old in the future. That is if she had a future. It was always unclear to her whether she would live to see tomorrow.

At the entrance to the cemetery, she decided to take the long way home and enjoy the nice night. She could actually see the stars through the smog tonight and the air was just perfect. It was crisp, but not cold enough for a coat. Breathing deeply, Buffy moved through the night slowly. Just as she reached a side street, she heard a scream come from a block away. Whipping out her stake, she headed in the direction of the scream and threw herself into the alley. But there was no one there. She listened again, but there was only silence.

"Hello?" Nothing but her echo.

Just as she looked up, a man in a long, dark, Matrix-style coat leaped down on top of her and tackled her to the ground. She managed to roll away and spring to her feet, facing the man. Or the demon. At first glance, it appeared to be a good looking man until you looked a little closer. His eyes were glowing yellow and his teeth, all of them, were razor sharp. He almost looked like a cat. Even his hands looked like the claws of a cat.

"Good kitty.... Nice kitty." Buffy said.

"Sssssslayer." It hissed.

"Sssssnowbell."

"You are perrrfect for her. Ssssshe will be mossssst pleassssed."

"Who will?" The Cat-Man attacked and Buffy dodged. But she was off balance by a fraction of a second and the thing raked its claws across her forearm. "Ow!" She turned to counter the attack, but Cat-Man blew a cloud of fog or smoke at her. She batted at the smoke and coughed, but when the smoke cleared, Cat-Man was gone. The claw marks stung and were bleeding pretty nicely. "Stupid cat." She turned and headed home.

"Hey ducks." Spike said as Buffy walked into the Hyperion. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Buffy looked down at her ruined shirt sleeve. "I just had a run in with Sylvester."

"Stallone?"

"The cat." Xander said. "Right?"

"Yeah. Sylvester the Cat-Man." Buffy said.

"Cat-Man? You've got your cartoons and comics mixed up. I thought I taught you better than that."

"You did. But this guy was like half-man, half-cat. He scratched me, blew some kind of smoke at me, and then ran off."

"Let me see." Xander said. "Here. Sit down." He pulled up a chair and Buffy sat. Xander ripped off the rest of her sleeve and looked at Spike. "Can you get me the first aid kit?"

"Sure." Spike went to the little bathroom behind the reception desk.

"Well, the good news is that the scratches aren't as deep as you thought you little wimp."

"There's bad news?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. You're tan is fading."

"Xander...."

"Sorry. Thanks." Xander took the first aid kit and got to work.

"Where is everyone? When I left here it was like a circus."

"It's past eleven. Everyone went home for the day." Spike said.

"I didn't realize I'd been out for so long."

"Spike and I're the clean up crew." Xander said.

"You may be, but I'm just here to watch the telly." Spike countered. "Faith's watching some practical joke show marathon on the Sci-Fi channel and I didn't want to miss Ben Affleck on Saturday Night Live." Buffy shot Spike a look. "What? He's a funny guy. Did you see him in 'Chasing Amy' and 'Dogma'? Genius."

Buffy just shook her head. "Where's Angel?"

"Upstairs helping Dawn with her history homework." Xander said, putting the final touches on the bandages. "There. You'll be good as new in no time. As for your shirt...." He held up the sleeve.

"I'm going to throw it away." Buffy sighed. "You know, I don't know why I shop at the mall and all those little boutiques on Redeo Drive. Wal-Mart and Family Dollar would probably be easier on my checkbook."

"Where's the fun in wearing what the average lower middle class woman is wearing?"

"They don't have to spend countless dollars on dry cleaning bills."

"Invest in Dryell. That stuff really works." Spike said.

"Gee, thanks. I'm going to bed guys. See you in the morning."

"Night Buff." Xander said.

"Night Slayer." Spike said.

Upstairs, Dawn was just heading off to bed and Angel was sitting in the living room watching TV. "Where's Connor?"

"In his room." Angel said, getting up. "How was patrol?"

"Mr. Bigglesworth attacked me."

"The cat from the 'Austin Powers' movies?"

"Yeah. Only this was Mr. Bigglesworth 9.0. He was half-man, half-cat."

"Are you ok?" Angel asked, examining her arm.

"Yeah. It's throbbing slightly, but that's probably because Xander put the tape on too tight. I'm headed to bed. Tell Connor I'll see him in the morning."

"Ok." Angel kissed her lightly. "I'll be in bed shortly. Just wanted to see the opening part of Saturday Night Live."

"What is it with you vampires and Ben Affleck?"

"He's hosting tonight? How'd you know?"

"Spike. Good night, Angel."

"Night."

* * *

Buffy sat in her office the next afternoon listening to the two Slayers bicker at each other. They had been brought up to her because they had been almost near a fight, yelling at the top of their lungs and right in each others faces. Buffy couldn't seem to concentrate on anything they said. She had this throbbing headache to go along with the throbbing in her arm. The scratches were almost completely healed, but they still hurt. All day had been like this. She had woke up with the headache and it had put her in a bad mood. It was like a cloud had moved in over her. To make the day even better, the forecast seemed to match her mood. It was seriously overcast outside and raining pretty heavy.

Finally, Buffy couldn't take the bickering anymore. "Hey!" She yelled. It worked. The two shut up and stared at her. "Get over it. Whatever you two are bitching about? I don't care. Compared to my problems, yours are just dust in the wind. In other words: an annoyance. Get out." The girls stared at her, shell shocked. "What? Did all the yelling at each other make you deaf? I said get out." The two stood in a hurry and left. "Idiots."

Buffy stared at the paper in front of her, trying to concentrate, but no luck. The door opening interrupted her lack of thought. It was Angel. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Fine."

"What happened with Serena and Charlie?"

"Who?"

"Serena and..... Buffy, what's the matter with you?"

"I said I'm fine. Really."

"You're sweating and your pale as death."

"It's hot in here."

"Really? You want me to turn on the AC?"

"No. I can do it. I'm not helpless."

"I know you're not."

"Then why are you pestering me?"

"Buffy...."

"I have a headache."

"Do you want...."

Buffy slammed her palm down on the desk. "What I want is for everyone to leave me alone. I said I'm fine!"

"Ok. I'll be downstairs if you need me." Angel stared for another minute before closing the door behind him.

* * *

"Where's Buffy?" Angel asked.

"She went out patrolling with Spike." Connor said. "She looked more like she was going to some Goth rave though."

"Why do you say that?"

"She was dressed in this black leather outfit. I think it was something she wore when she was evil. She's not evil again is she?"

"Not last time I checked."

"Well when was that?" Angel stared at Connor and then grabbed his coat. "Where're you going?"

"To check on her." Angel headed for the sewers.

"She didn't go out that way. Mom used the front door."

"Oh. I'll call if anything develops."

"You got it."

With that, Angel was gone. He followed his wife's faint smell through a maze of downtown LA. Which was odd because usually he could smell Buffy just fine, but tonight he was having trouble. He smelled Spike more than he did Buffy.

* * *

As for Buffy and Spike, they were at a night club in the middle of the dance floor grinding against each other. Buffy had led Spike to the alley where she had had her run-in with Cat-Man. Cat-Man had been there and he had scratched and smoked Spike too. The effect on Spike was a lot quicker. The two demons inside had struggled, but the invading demon was too strong. Now, they were no longer Buffy and Spike. They were Queen Catirina and King Cato, rulers of the Cathrinian dimension.

A long time ago, they had been the leaders of their world, but an uprising had occurred and they had been killed, their souls captured in the fog that had ruled their dimension. A few of their loyalists had escaped their world with their souls and had been searching for two human specimens worthy enough to be turned into the king and queen. When Catirina had heard tales of the Slayer and her vampire lover, she had been more than intrigued. She had forced her will upon her loyalists and made them seek out these two. Her search had led them to the City Of Angels as this world called it. To her, it was a world full of filth and light. Once she and her king had taken control of these two bodies, they would lay ruin to this world and take back their beloved Cathrinia. Her loyalists would be rewarded and the ones who had killed her and Cato would be given long, gruesome deaths.

Catirina threw back her head and laughed as Cato pulled her closer and licked her neck. The Slayer's body was wonderful. It was full of life and strength and not to mention beauty. As for Cato, the body of Angel wasn't everything the tales had lived up to. He had bleached hair and his eyes weren't deep and soulful. But he had rock hard muscles everywhere and a chiseled look to his face that was deadly and sexy at the same time. This world was doomed.


	2. A New Beginning p2

Chapter 2 

"Have you heard anything from either of them?" Angel asked his cell phone.

"No, Angel, we haven't." Willow said on the other line. "I did a locator spell, but it went kapluey."

"What do you mean?"

"It set the map and part of the settee on fire. Sorry."

"No, it's ok."

"I don't know what happened. It's never set a fire that bad before."

"I think I know what's wrong. Willow, get everyone to look into that demon Buffy faced the other night. Ask Xander about it."

"Ok. What do you think is wrong?"

"She may be possessed."

"That would explain the spell going wrong."

"I'll keep my cell on so you can contact me if you find anything."

"Ok Angel."

Angel shut the phone and went the cemetery that Buffy had patrolled the night before. He hoped to catch her scent and follow it from there. Maybe he would find this Mr. Bigglesworth guy and get him to tell him what he had done to his wife.

* * *

Catirina walked across the Chinese theatre and snickered at the handprints of this worlds gods. Maybe one day soon she would wipe out these little handprints and she and Cato would be the only handprints worshiped here. As she walked with Cato's hands attached to her hips, the human males whistled at her and yelled obscenities. At one point, she had become so offended she had hissed at the male and scratched his face. He had called her a 'crazy bitch' and ran off.

"Buffy!? Is that you?" A female voice said behind her. That name seemed familiar to Catirina. "Buffy!" The woman, a blonde, skinny, tanned thins bounced in front of her. "I knew that was you. Wow, what's up with the look? Biker chic."

"Who are you?" Catirina scoffed.

"Who am I? You remember….. Nina." Catirina just blinked. "From Wolfram and Hart. Wolf-girl, that's me."

"Right." Catirina looked at Cato. He shrugged. "Nina."

"So, how've you been? I see that things with Wolfram and Hart fell through."

"Yes."

"Hey, are you ok?"

"I am fine. I have never been more powerful."

"First off: You sound like you have a cold. Your voice is all deeper and stuff. And second: Why are you with Spike?"

"Spike?"

"What happened with Angel? I thought you two were perfect and all that."

"This isn't Angelus?"

"Are you high?"

"High? I am a goddess little bug. You should bow and tremble before me."

"A goddess? Yeah, I really think you're high….. Or possibly drunk. You should go home to Angel and let him know so he can put you in bed. Tell him I said hey." With that, the human Nina trotted off.

Catirina looked at Cato. "You're not Angelus?"

"This is Angelus. He is the only vampire with a soul." Cato replied. "I could smell the soul on this one. And I could smell the stink of a vampire."

"Spike. Why does this name sound familiar?"

"Can you access the Slayer's memories? Have your powers started to rejuvenate in her?"

"They are well guarded. I can only catch glimpses."

"Try my beloved."

Catirina closed her eyes and concentrated. Wisps of memories floated to her of a tall, dark man with dark eyes and then a name came attached to them. Angel. She felt the great love this Slayer had for this dark haired vampire. "You are not him. You are the one they call Spike. William the Bloody." Catirina opened her eyes. "We must find the real Angelus. You cannot pass."

"We don't know where to find him."

"You don't. But I do."

"Then lead the way my queen."

* * *

Willow clicked rapidly on the mouse and watched the windows come and go. She was getting agitated. There was nothing on cat-people anywhere. "Xander?"

"Still nothing Will." Xander replied from his book.

"Dawn?"

"Sorry Willow. Nada here too." Dawn called from the office.

"Hey Illyria." Connor said, walking over to the Blue God. "Maybe this thing's from another dimension. Do you think you could find out if you and I went out searching for them?"

"I could try." Illyria said. "But I do not know what good it would do. I could not tell you what world this creature is from if it is from another plane of existence."

"We don't need to know. We'll force it to tell us."

"May I be of assistance in the torture of this creature?"

"As long as you don't hurt mom."

"Very well then." Illyria started to follow Connor out.

"Guys!" Willow said, getting up. "We're not going to torture Buffy."

"I just said that." Connor said.

"We don't even know how to find this thing. Angel said he can't pick up Buffy's scent past the alley where she was attacked."

"I have Illyria for that." With that, Connor and Illyria walked out.

"How does he know that's the right alley?" Xander asked.

"He followed Buffy's trail from the cemetery she went to." Willow sighed. "I know this is frustrating, I do, but we're not going to find Buffy until….."

"She walks through the door." Dawn said from the office. They all turned to see Buffy and Spike standing on the steps to the main entrance, both dressed in black suede.

"Where is Angelus?" Buffy asked. Her voice was lower, her eyes were a different color, almost yellow, and her hair was streaked with black. This Buffy…. The evil was coming off of her in waves. Even regular humans noticed it.

"He went out looking for you and Spike." Willow said. "Maybe you should just stay here and….."

"You will find him for me. Now."

"Yeah. Ok." Willow reached for the phone and dialed Angel's cell. "Hey Angel, you need to get her ASAP."

"Why?" The vampire asked on the other line.

"You're wife's home."

"Be there in 10."

"You can't get anywhere in LA in ten minutes."

"I can." Angel hung up.

"He'll be here in ten." Willow said, placing the phone back in the cradle.

"That is too long." Buffy said. "I will go out and find him myself."

"No!" Buffy's glare shot towards Willow. "He'll be here. Maybe you could sit and have a cup of tea."

"I do not socialize with lesser beings."

"Maybe we should wait my love." Spike said. "After all, we won't be able to find Angelus any other way." Spike sounded different too. His voice was laced with a foreign accent that wasn't British….. Or any other accent that any of them had ever heard. He was a lot more suave and arrogant than the real Spike. This version of Spike….. He was just as evil as Angelus or William the Bloody, but he exuded every ounce of it without covering it up. His hair was also starting to streak with black and his eyes were tinted with yellow.

Buffy looked up at him. "Very well." She turned to Willow. "I take you to be the one in command."

"You could say that." Willow said.

"You will dismiss these infidels. They have no power."

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." Xander protested.

"Xander, Dawn, just go." Willow said. "Go find Faith."

"But….."

"You heard your leader." Buffy said.

"I don't have a leader here. You took her over kitty-bitch."

Buffy started to advance on Xander, but Willow threw up a barrier between them. "Xander, go."

"Fine, but you'll be hearing from my lawyer."

"You don't have one." Dawn said. "We killed them all."

"Oh right." Then they were gone upstairs.

"Happy now?" Willow asked.

Buffy walked down the steps gracefully, almost walking on air, and she moved near Willow. "I sense great power within you." She closed her eyes. "You are the one they call Willow. You're a sorceress."

"That's right." Willow looked at Spike stalking around on the stairs. He watched them carefully. "You can access Buffy's memories?"

Buffy opened her eyes. "Yes. It's a very simple maneuver."

"I know."

"Yes….. The Slayer has memories of you invading her mind once."

"It was for her own good."

"It is quite unpleasant." Buffy's hand shot out and grabbed Willow's throat. "So please stop trying to invade my mind." Willow murmured in Latin, but nothing happened. "Please. I once ate sorcerers more powerful than you. What makes you think that you're any different?" Buffy shoved Willow back into the counter and moved over to the settee. She sat down and crossed her legs. "This place seems just perfect for a palace."

"There are bigger places than this." Spike said. "I think they call it Beverly Hills."

"Then we'll go there when this is finished."

"Whatever makes you happy."

"So, you guys are like, what? Husband and wife?" Willow asked, backing up to the reception desk.

Spike looked at her. "The only labels we carry are Emperor Cato and Empress Catirina. That is all you need to know."

"You humans with your questions." Buffy….. Catirina spat. "You ask one two many and it gets you into trouble. Do you not learn how to mind your own business?"

"We do, but there are times when we have to make someone else's business our business."

"Why?"

"Well, let's say for instance, something inhabits a friend of ours. We need to know what it is so we can get rid of it."

"You're prying again." Catirina stood and cornered Willow against the reception counter. "This is your last warning. Do it again and Angelus will find your skin peeled back and your organs spilling onto the floor when he returns."

Willow stared in horror at the words spilling out of Buffy's mouth. Sure it wasn't Buffy, but this thing inside her was just as bad as evil Buffy on a bad day. "Sorry."

Catirina walked around the lobby and glanced at a clock. "Time. It's an amazing thing. You humans don't have enough of it to fully enjoy it. You are all just flickers."

"You're immortal." Catirina spun on Willow. "It was a statement."

"Yes. We are immortal. Not our flesh and bone bodies, but our spirits. Of course, we only inhabit immortal beings."

"Buffy's not immortal."

Catirina laughed. "Of course she is. I wouldn't have chosen her if she hadn't been."

"Sorry, but I have to ask a question. How is Buffy immortal? She's just a human."

"Just a human? I swear, you mortals do not ratify anything larger than what is contained within your limited knowledge. I have studied Slayers for millennias. The only reason they do not survive is because they fight for a cause that is far too powerful for them. The Slayer does not age, she becomes."

"Becomes. Never looked at it that way."

"How long have you known your Slayer?"

"Almost nine years."

"Have you never looked at her? Truly looked at her? I've watched this one grow, but not age. She has BECOME a Slayer. She has BECOME her powers. None have achieved this before. If you were to give her twenty more years of life, she would not age. She would stay this way forever while you mere mortals wither and fade. Her energy does not die until she does."

"But you said she's immortal."

"Yes. She can die a mortal's death. That is the only limitation a Slayer has." A sudden shiver went through Catirina's body. She didn't understand it. A quick search of the Slayer's memories told her that this shiver happened every time Angelus walked into a room. Angelus was here.

"Willow, are you ok?" Angel asked, walking up from the basement.

"I'm fine." Willow said.

"Where are the others?"

"Upstairs. Connor and Illyria went out."

Angel turned to look at Buffy and Spike. Buffy stared at him. "You are a magnificent creature. So much evil is being contained behind that soul. One small slip and it all comes pouring out."

"That slip won't ever happen again." Angel said.

"No, it won't will it? Someone bound your soul to you, you poor thing."

"Give me my wife back." Angel started to advance, but a powerful force shoved him back and pinned him up against a column.

Buffy laughed. "You cannot touch me. Not unless I will it." Angel growled. "Oh, don't be jealous young one. You can have powers equal to mine." Angel's shirt ripped open and exposed his chest. "Soon enough." Spike walked up behind her and opened his shirt. Buffy raked her nails down his chest and drew blood. A purple essence spilled out of him and Buffy started to rake her nails down Angel's chest, but Dawn yelled out four words in Latin and the essence was sucked away into a crystal. Buffy hissed, Angel was released, and Spike collapsed.

"Willow!" Dawn threw a book down to the witch. "Quick."

Willow began to chant something and Buffy started to glow crimson. The more she chanted, the brighter the glow became. "Angel, cut her."

"What?" Angel asked.

"Do it!"

Angel grabbed a knife from the weapons cabinet and Buffy began to struggle against the glow, which had become almost gelatinous around her. Willow threw out her hand and held it there. Buffy was pinned to the floor. Angel reached through the crimson glow and slashed Buffy's forearm. A purple mist floated out of the cut and Dawn held up the crystal. The mist was sucked into it.

Dawn threw the crystal to Angel. "Destroy it, quick."

Angel stomped his foot on the crystal and it smashed. The crimson glow died and Buffy laid unconscious on the floor. "What happened?" Angel asked.

"Dawn was eavesdropping and heard the thing's name. Don't you just love it when the bad guys give up their info along with their diabolical plans?" Xander said. "She looked it up and found out how they were originally cast out."

"This time it's permanent though." Dawn said. "I added that whole crystal thing in from another spell."

Angel helped Spike to his feet. "You ok?"

"Yeah. What the hell happened?" Spike asked.

"I'll explain it to you later." Angel went over to Buffy and picked her up. "I'll let you guys know when she wakes up." With that, Angel carried her up to their room.

* * *

The next day, Buffy sat in the living room staring out the window. Angel walked in and sat next to her. "How're you feeling?"

"A little nauseous and I have a headache that I can't get rid of." Buffy said, not looking at him.

"That's usually what happens after you get really possessed like that and then it takes a big spell to release you. What do you remember?"

"All of it, actually."

"All of it?"

"Well, there are some parts that are big blanks. But mostly I remember the part where I threatened Willow."

"She's over it." Buffy snorted. "Hey, that wasn't you."

"I know, but it was still coming out of my mouth." After a minute, Buffy looked over at Angel. "Is it true what she said?"

"About what?"

"About me being immortal?"

"I don't know. I've never heard that before."

"It might actually be. I remember where the power of the Slayer came from. It came from a demon, a black mist that tried to rape me and Faith, and I got the sense that it never died."

"Of course not. It was passed down from generation to generation. Technically….."

"No. It was in that box all this time. Whatever powers it contained and passed to the Slayer, immortality must have been one of them. It mixed with the girl's mortality. It makes sense."

"Huh." Angel looked at her. "I think you look older."

"So do you, but you haven't aged a day for 250 years." Angel stared at her. "So, if I really am immortal, what now? Where does that leave me and countless other Slayers?"


	3. Same Time, Different Place

Chapter 3 

Angel came running into the lobby from upstairs holding a newspaper in his hand. "Can you guys believe this?"

"What?" Willow asked from the computer, glancing at Buffy as she strolled out of the office.

"This!" He held up the newspaper and pointed to a section of the entertainment portion.

"What is 'this?'" Buffy asked.

"A Oldies all-nighter is playing at the movies."

"What's that?" Xander asked.

"It's where all the old folks go to hang and make out with each other." Buffy said before she could think about what was coming out of her mouth.

Xander cringed. "Ew! Mental picture."

"Yeah. Not the visual I wanted to keep in my head for all eternity."

"No!" Angel looked down at the paper. "It's a bunch of the old classic movies from the 30s and 40s playing all night long."

"Oh. When is it?"

"Tomorrow starting at five."

"Count me in."

"Me too." Buffy said. "Sounds like fun. Will?"

"Sure, why not?" Willow said. "If it'll get me out of here."

"What about Dawn and Connor?" Angel asked. "Where are they?"

"Class. They'll be home in a few minutes." Buffy said.

"Think they'll want to come?"

"Oh yeah. Dawn's really into all those old movies. Especially with Marilyn Monroe in them. I personally enjoy anything Frank Sinatra."

"I wonder if 'Ocean's Twelve' is gonna be any good." Xander said.

"The first one was, why wouldn't this one be?" Willow said.

"It's Brad Pitt and George Clooney. How bad could it actually be?"

"I'm gonna be paying more attention to Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julia Roberts." Xander said.

"Oh, me too!" Willow said. "Well, not so much Julia cause I'm just not attracted to her, but definitely Catherine." They all looked at her. "What? Gay!"

"Faith?" Angel asked.

She smiled. "Yeah, couldn't hurt anything, could it?"

"What about Spike?" Buffy asked.

"Upstairs asleep. I'll tell him we're all going out tomorrow and he'll tag along."

"So, the whole gang goes out for a night on the town." Angel said.

"Oh, can we go out to eat somewhere first?" Willow asked. "I love the looks on the host's face when they ask how many people are in your group and you tell them a big number."

"You're one demented child, Will." Xander said.

"I try."

* * *

Buffy sat in her bedroom reading a book when Willow knocked on the door. "Come in." Willow walked in. "Hey Wills, what's up?"

"I was just thinking." Willow said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"About what?"

"Well, what it would be like if there was no such thing as vampires or demons. Just a normal world."

"What made you think of that?"

"We just had so much fun tonight that I couldn't help but think. We wouldn't know each other."

"Maybe we would. I mean, my parents weren't exactly the ideal couple. They would have divorced and I would have gone to Sunnydale with mom."

"Maybe not."

"You shouldn't think about stuff like that."

"Why?"

"It leads to bad stuff."

"Not always."

"Yes, always." Buffy looked up as Angel walked in behind Willow.

"I guess I'll leave you guys alone."

"Ok, goodnight Will."

"Night Buffy."

"What was that about?" Angel asked when Willow had left.

"Oh, she was just wondering what we would all be like if vampires and all that didn't exist."

"Well, I know one thing." Buffy looked at him quizzically. "I wouldn't be alive. Or undead. Whatever."

"It would be interesting though." This time it was Angel who looked at her quizzically. "You know, what would we be like. What would we have turned out to be? I mean, my destiny was to be a Slayer. What would I have been if there were no forces of evil to watch for on a nightly basis?"

"I don't think I'd want to find out." Angel kissed her forehead. "Go to bed. You're tired and Willow's putting crazy ideas in your head again."

"Ok, just because of that one time….."

"You two managed to set the kitchen on fire."

"But we fixed it, didn't we?"

"Goodnight, Buffy." Angel turned out the light.

* * *

The next morning, Buffy reached over and found the other side of the bed empty. She crawled over and flipped on the light. Sleepily, she stretched out her limbs and slowly opened her eyes, but her eyes were covered up. She reached up and found a sleep mask on her face. Weird. She pulled it off and let her eyes adjust.

Buffy gasped. This wasn't her room. She ran to the window. This wasn't the Hyperion. "What the hell is going on? Angel!" She went to the door and opened it. It didn't lead to the hallway, but instead she found herself in the biggest walk in closet she had ever walked into. It was full of clothes and shoes and purses and a three-way mirror complete with a pedestal to step up on and check out an outfit. "Um….."

"Buffy?" And English accent called out.

"Giles? Spike?"

"Who are you talking to? And where are you at?"

"Um, in the closet."

"You couldn't have bought a new outfit. It's just now seven o'clock!" The door opened wider and…..

"Oh my God!"

"What?"

"You're….. No way!"

He laughed. "What?"

"I can't believe this!"

"Ok, I'm not following you here. What am I?"

"You're Orlando Bloom!"

"Yes. The last time I checked. Here, I'll check again just for you." He looked down at himself and patted his chest. "Yes. I'm still Orlando. But who are you?"

"I'm Buffy."

"I know who you are. After all, I wouldn't have asked you to marry me last night if I didn't know you."

"What? You asked me to….." She looked at the very large engagement rock….. ring on her finger. "And I said yes."

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?"

"Listen, let me get dressed and I'll be out in a minute."

"Right. Do you want anything?"

"Toast?"

"Coming right up." He glanced at her one more time and then turned and walked out.

Buffy studied the ring on her finger. It had three pear-shaped diamonds on it, one large one in the middle and two smaller ones pointed away from the middle one. Orlando Bloom just called her his fiancé! Think Buffy, what could have….. Willow! Buffy grabbed a pair of….. Whoa! Gucci jeans and a black….. How much better can this get? A black Dolcé and Gabana top. She checked out her shoes and found a pair of black Minolo Blonic boots. After brushing her hair, she went to her bedroom and started going through drawers.

"Phonebook. Phonebook. Gotta have a phonebook." When she couldn't find one, she picked up the phone and dialed 411. "Sunnydale, California. What? Yes there is. It's two hours up the coast….. Hello?" Buffy hung up the phone. "No Sunnydale? How can….. Oh no! She did it again!"

"Who did what again?" Orlando went to kiss her, but she pulled back.

"Whoa! Married."

"Not yet." He went to kiss her again, but she dodged again. "Ok, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing, it's just that….. I, uh, I slept really weird last night and I'm not 100 today."

"Do you want me to call Brad and tell him that you can't make lunch today?"

"Brad who?"

"Pitt."

"Brad Pitt?" She squeaked. "He wants to have lunch with me?"

"Of course. You two have been friends since you were eleven."

"Eleven? Me and Brad Pitt? THE Brad Pitt? As in the honey mom and I used to watch in _Thelma and Louise_ whenever we wanted to see the perfect specimen of a man Brad Pitt?"

"Yes. Did you hit your head?"

"I thought you were dating that Kate Bosworth chick."

"Kate Bos….. Oh, you mean the girl from the _Blue Crush_ movie. That was just a rumor, but you know that. Should I call a doctor?"

"No. No, it's fine. Yeah, call Brad and tell him that I won't be able to make it. I'm….. not feeling myself."

"Obviously." He held out his hand slowly to show her he wasn't trying to hurt her and then touched her forehead. "Well, you are a little warm, but it could be the space heater you always have on and that down comforter you sleep under in the middle of Los Angeles weather." He kissed the side of her head. "I'll go call Brad."

Buffy nodded and waited for him to disappear down the hall before she walked out of the room. This was definitely not a penthouse. It was a freakin mansion! She walked down the hall in the opposite direction Orlando had gone and glanced in the first room she came to. Another bedroom. Probably a guestroom. The next room, however, was huge. And it had tons of movie posters everywhere. Movie posters with her name on them and he picture on them. She looked at each one carefully.

_Interview With the Vampire_. She had played Claudia. Brad Pitt! Eleven! Buffy had been eleven when that had come out! Then there was _I Know What You Did Last Summer_ and _Scream 2_. Never heard of them. She moved on to _Cruel Intentions_ and _Simply Irresistible_. Again, never heard of them, but she had been the star in each one. _Charlie's Angels_ and _Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle_! No freakin way! She was Nathalie! That was Cameron Diaz's part! She had been in both movies with Lucy Lui and Drew Barrymore! _Moulin Rouge_ and _Chicago_? This was incredible! _Scooby Doo_ and _Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed_. They had made two movies out of her favorite cartoon growing up? And she had played Daphne! Her favorite character. _Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights_? She could sing AND dance apparently! _Troy_.

"You remember that movie, right?" Orlando said behind her. She hadn't heard him come in. Uh oh.

"Uh, yeah. Great movie." She said, uncertain of what _Troy_ had to do with her. She glanced at the poster. Instead of Diane Kruger there, it was her! She had played Helen of Troy alongside Orlando as Paris, Prince of Troy and Brad Pitt as Achilles! "We met on that movie set?" It didn't sound like a question.

"Yup. And it was the best movie I've ever done because I got you." Buffy glanced around. _The Grudge_. What was that? "I remember when you called me from Tokyo. You were in hysterics because you had just set the kitchen on fire."

"Heh….. yeah. That was crazy."

"Well, listen, Brad says he hopes you feel better." Orlando checked his watch. "I gotta go. Sword training and all. I'll be home before supper and we'll start talking about the wedding." He kissed her cheek. "Feel better, ok?"

"I'll try." She watched him go and then she decided to check out the rest of the room. There was an Emmy sitting in the middle of a bunch of other awards, including an Oscar for Best Picture for _Chicago_. She picked up the Emmy and read. "Best Young Actress, Buffy Summers, for _All My Children_. Mom's favorite soap! She had been in it and won an Emmy! Who had she played? A little searching found that she had played Kendall Hart, Erica Kane's long lost daughter. Damn. That was cool. "What am I doing?" She set the script down and walked out of the room. Luckily, she found a computer and she sat down.

She typed in 'Willow Rosenburg' and watched as 1,354,725 results showed up. This could take a while. She clicked on the first link and a picture of Willow came up. "Or not." Apparently, Willow was an esteemed professor of computers at a big time school in San Francisco where she had been born and raised. There was a number for the school and Buffy wrote it down.

Next she typed in 'Alexander Harris' and watched 1,087,342 results popped up. Unfortunately, it took her over an hour to locate the right Alexander Harris. Xander was a big time architect in New York City. His current project was working on the new site of the Twin Towers. After a little more research, she found a number where she could reach him.

Then, she typed in 'Angelus.' Nothing of significance came up. She tried 'Angel,' but got a bunch of religious stuff. Then she tried 'Liam McDuncan,' his real name and she found out that Liam had lived from 1725 to 1778. It was her Angel all right, but he had died over 226 years ago. He had been a great duke in Galway, Ireland and had married a beautiful blonde woman that had given him nine children, three girls and six boys.

She decided not to try Spike's name. She knew he wouldn't be alive today just like Angel wasn't. Instead, Buffy got up and went to find a personal phone book. She managed to find a cell phone that had a WHOLE lot of famous people's numbers in it. Just as she was about to search for her mother's number, the house phone rang. She went to pick it up.

"Uh, hello?" She said, uncertain of who it would be.

"Buffy! Oh my God! Thank God I found you!" It was Willow.

"I was getting ready to call you after I….. Never mind! What the hell happened?"

"I don't know! I went to sleep and woke up in San Francisco a professor of computer sciences. And you! Famous and engaged to Orlando Bloom!"

"How did you find that out? He just asked me last night."

"Is he there?"

"No. He had to go to sword lessons."

"For _Pirates of the Caribbean 2 _and _3_. He's beginning shooting those early next year."

"And what am I doing?"

"You start this movie called _Southland Tales_ in January."

"Oh. Cool."

"I can't believe you're famous!"

"Me either! You should see this place, Will! It's huge. I have a closet the size of half of my penthouse at the Hyperion." The doorbell rang. "Uh….. Hold on." She took the phone with her as she opened the door to find Cordelia standing there. "CORDELIA!"

"Hey! How're you doing? I just heard the news! Let me see the rock!" Cordy grabbed her left hand and held it up. "Oh my God! Look at how HUGE that is. I can't believe that Justin and Bam have such great taste!"

"Justin and Bam?"

"Buffy!" Willow yelled over the phone. Buffy held it back up to her ear. "Justin Timberlake is your best friend since birth. His mother and your mother went to college together and they were the best of friends. And Bam Margera, the pro-skateboarder, is your other best friend. You met him in New York when you were filming _Interview With the Vampire_ and he took you to the premiere. You dated for a while, but then you broke it off. Cordelia has her own show called Cordy, it's a huge smash, and you two have been friends since you worked together for a little while on _All My Children_."

"How did you find all that out?"

"The internet."

"Makes sense, I guess."

"Who is that?" Cordelia asked.

"Who?"

"On the phone silly! Is it who I think it is?"

"I doubt it."

"Oh, don't be so silly! Who is it?"

"An old, old, old friend of mine I knew back when I was little. She's coming into town soon and I offered to let her stay here."

"I just hope she's not after ten minutes of fame. You know your 'old, old, old friends' come out of the woodwork after you become famous. I've had people I don't even know say they knew me way back when."

"Trust me, she's not after fame."

"I've already got it. Sort of." Willow said.

"Shush!"

"Well, I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you." Cordy said. "I'm off to work again."

"Yeah. Good luck with that."

"Enjoy your time off. When January comes, I won't get to see much of you or Orlando. Pity. Ta!" Cordy air kissed Buffy's cheeks and walked out the door.

Buffy stared at the door a minute, then said, "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." She shook her head. "Listen, how soon can you make it up here?"

"No later than….." Willow paused, probably looking at a clock. "No later than noon."

"Good. Hurry up. I'll pick you up at LAX. Just call me."

"Ok. Bye."

"Later." Buffy hung up and started to search around the mansion again.


	4. Same Time, Different Place p2

Chapter 4 

Buffy sat on her overstuffed and extremely comfy couch listening to the hold music. She was trying to get a hold of Xander, but she got put on hold at every place they sent her. In the couple of hours since she had called Willow, Buffy had discovered that she was friends with Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Heath Ledger, Bam Margera and his band of crazies from Viva La Bam and Jackass, everyone that mattered to Orlando from _Lord of the Rings_, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp, Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Phillipe, Reese Witherspoon, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Carmen Electra, Dave Nevaro, and a slew of other famous people. She had dated the lead singer of HIM, Villa Vallo, but that had never panned out. They were apparently still good friends. She had dated Bam, but he was more like a brother to her. (Thank God for journals!)

She also found that her mother was alive and well living in New York in a penthouse that Brad Pitt had bought Buffy for her sixteenth birthday. After talking to her mother and spending thirty minutes crying afterwards, Buffy had decided she needed to try and find Xander. Connor obviously didn't exist and Dawn had never been born. Buffy's father was still an asshole and her mother had divorced him when she was two. Her mother had since met another man and Buffy had a step-father that was apparently someone she truly considered her father. Hugh Jackman was her god-father. Her mother had met him when she went to Australia in college for a study abroad course. They had become the best of friends and he, mom, and Lynn (Justin's mom) had been thick as thieves back in the day.

"Miss? Are you still there?" A voice said.

"Yes! I'm still here." Buffy said quickly.

"I'm going to buzz you back to him. He just got in."

"Thanks."

There was a long pause then two rings and then, "Alexander Harris speaking."

"Xander! Oh my God! Are you ok?"

"Who is this?"

"Xander, don't play! It's me, Buffy!"

"Buffy who?"

"Buffy Summers! You don't remember me?"

"Buffy Summers? Is this a crank call? I don't have time for this."

"Xander, what is the matter with you? Don't you recognize me?"

"You're telling me you expect me to believe that this is the international superstar Buffy Summers calling and that I'm supposed to remember you because I know you?"

"Yes!" Buffy sighed. "Listen, Willow did that thing where she accidentally does a spell, only this time she sent us to a world where we're all normal. No demons, or vampires, or Slayers!"

"Willow who?"

"Rosenburg!"

"That professor in San Francisco?"

"Yes! You know her!"

"I read about her. Listen, I really don't have time for this you crazy goon." The line went dead.

"Damn it!" Buffy tossed the phone onto the couch next to her. She looked at the clock. Ten after twelve. Willow should be calling soon. The doorbell rang. Buffy ran to the door and opened it. Justin Timberlake stood there. She almost screamed, but quickly remembered that she and he were best friends and she was supposed to act natural.

"Hey B, what's going on?" He walked in past her. "So, did he ask you yet?"

"Who ask me what?" Buffy shut the door and followed Justin into the living room.

"Orlando. Did he ask you?"

Buffy looked at the engagement ring. "Oh! Yeah. See." She showed him the ring.

"I don't need to see it, kid. I helped him pick it out."

"Yeah….. Willow told….. I mean, he told me. You and Bam helped."

"So, how did he ask you? He said he was going to catch you completely off guard."

"You know, he did, I just don't remember it all. It was kind of a blur."

Justin laughed and sat down. He took her hand and pulled her down next to him. Still holding her hand, he said, "I can't believe it's not you and me. You remember how set our moms were on us getting married?"

"Yeah. Well, you know those two."

"I do. So, Christmas is coming up soon and it's your year."

"My year?"

"Don't pull that! You know it's your turn to come out to Memphis this year."

"I know, but I think Orlando and I were, uh, going to see his mom in England."

"I thought she was coming out here."

"Uh, yeah. But we're going to have a little Christmas out there. Just us."

"What about Samantha?"

"Samantha?" Buffy did a quick inventory on everything she knew about Orlando from the articles she'd read. "His sister! Yeah. She'll be there too."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You seem….. Jittery. You're not usually jittery."

"Well, it's all the excitement. You know, getting engaged and all." The phone rang. "Excuse me." She grabbed the phone off the couch and walked into the hallway. "Hello?"

"Buffy, I'm taxiing into LAX now. I'll meet you at baggage claim." Willow said.

"You brought luggage?"

"Yeah. You know, just in case."

"In case what?"

"In case I need to stay for a while."

"Oh, right. Ok. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Bye."

Buffy hung up and walked back into the living room. "Who was that?" Justin asked.

"What? Oh, a friend. Cordelia. I need to go pick her up."

"She has a car."

"I know, but we were going shopping and I told her that I would drive."

"Oh. Ok. When's Orlando coming home?"

"Um, before supper."

"Are you guys going out?"

"Don't know. I guess I'll find out tonight."

"Yeah. Listen, if you do, come to Chi. I'll have something special for you guys."

"Chi. Right. Ok." She went to the hallway closet and grabbed a leather coat.

"It's not cold outside."

"I know. Habit."

"Since when?"

"Right." Buffy put the coat back and grabbed the little Vera Wang purse sitting on the table by the door. She grabbed a random set of keys and walked out with Justin.

He walked to his Escalade and stopped. "B, I'm really happy for you. Orlando's a great guy. You two work."

"Thanks. That's really sweet of you."

"See ya later."

She waited till he had pulled out of the driveway and then walked over to the garage. There were a couple of high priced cars parked outside of it. She pushed the unlock button on the keys and a brand new 2005, silver, Shelby GT Mustang beeped back. "Nice!" Hopping in, she put the top down and pulled out. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get to LAX from where she was at. Thank God she had a GPS system in her car.

* * *

"This being famous stuff is cool." Buffy said.

"Tell me about it." Willow said as they drove back to Buffy's house. "I have a Victorian Mansion in San Francisco and a Corvette parked outside of it. Nice neighborhood." Willow looked around the swank Beverly Hills and sighed. "So, you said Xander doesn't remember us?"

"No. How come you and I remember, but he doesn't?"

"I don't know. Have you tried Faith?"

"I can't find her on the computer."

"She must be an average Jane. Where'd she grow up at?"

"Boston. She grew up in Boston." Buffy glanced at Willow. "What about Giles? Have you looked him up?"

"Yeah, but I haven't called."

"What's he doing?"

"He's the museum curator at the British Museum."

"Really. I bet he likes it."

"Well, he's pretty darn good at what he does."

"Does Dawn….."

"No. Not here. And, obviously, Connor doesn't exist."

"What about the Hyperion?"

"What about it?"

"What's up with it?"

"Oh! It's one of the priciest hotels in LA. Very trendy. Has been for a while." Buffy turned into her driveway and stopped the car. "Here we are."

"Oh my God! This place is huge."

"Not as big as most in Beverly Hills. I read that Orlando and I are a low key couple." Buffy noticed a new car parked behind her Escalade. "I wonder who that could be." They walked up to the front door and found Brad Pitt standing there.

"Holy crap!" Willow said.

"Buffy, I was worried. Are you ok?" Brad asked, hugging her tightly.

"I'm ok. I just wasn't myself earlier. Sorry I canceled lunch."

"It's ok. As long as you feel better. Who's this?"

"This is my friend Willow Rosenburg from San Francisco."

"The computer scientist?"

"Yeah. I met her a while back when I was in San Francisco and we hit it off. She flew up to see me."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Brad held out his hand, but Willow just stared at him.

"She's shy." Buffy nudged Willow and the red-head took Brad's hand.

"N-nice to meet you too." She spit out.

"Where's Orlando?" Brad asked.

"Sword training."

"Oh."

"He proposed to her last night." Willow blurted.

"He did what!?"

"Willow!" Buffy said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was such a surprise….. It's been kind of a whirlwind since he, you know." She held up her left hand. "See."

"Wow. Congratulations! I'm really happy for you. Orlando's a great guy."

"Thanks. Well, listen, Willow and I have some catching up to do, so….."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. Of course. I'll see you later then."

"Yeah."

"You and Orlando and Jen and I will have to go out and celebrate some time."

"Sure."

"It was nice meeting you, Willow."

"You too." Willow waved.

Brad kissed Buffy's cheek. "Bye."

"Bye." Buffy opened the door and let Willow in. She waved as Brad pulled out and honked, then shut the door. "This keeps happening! Famous people either call or they just pop by!" She turned, but Willow wasn't there. "Will?"

"Back here." She found her in the poster room. She was holding up the Oscar. "Wow! This is incredible."

"Will, we need to figure out how to get back."

"Why? This place is so much cooler."

"Because Angel's not in it. Xander doesn't know who we are. We don't even know about Giles and Faith! We don't belong here and I can't act."

"You could learn."

"What?"

"And you might have to."

"Why?"

"Because there's no magic in this world. I don't know how to get back without magick."

"You're joking."

"This is the world that I imagined. No demons. No vampires. No evil. Just the human evils. And that also means no magick."

"How did this happen?"

"Well, you remember when I accidentally cast that spell so we couldn't see each other?" Buffy nodded. "Well, I think that's what happened here. I was just wondering what it would be like and as I dozed off, I kept thinking about it. Then I wake up in San Francisco a famous professor."

"This is awful!"

"Not completely. I mean, look! You're engaged to your favorite actor and….."

"I don't love Orlando. I love Angel."

"I know, but….. I don't know what to do without magick. There's absolutely no way we could make a machine to dimension travel in. It's not possible." Willow looked at Buffy. "We're stuck."


	5. Same Time, Different Place p3

A/N Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. There was a fire at work and things have been crazy for a while and also I just started college, so I haven't had much time to work on anything except work and school. (Tipping the Scales was already written, so it's not taking up any of my time. Don't worry.)  
Chapter 5 

"Stuck?" Buffy stared at Willow incredulously. "You can't tell me we're stuck."

"Well….." Willow started.

"Surely somebody will figure out that we're not there back in our world."

"Buffy, you don't get it. Our world doesn't really exist."

"But you just told me that you can't dimension travel. Which means that our dimension has to exist." Buffy sat down and looked up at Willow. "You don't get it. No matter how great this world is….. Angel's not here. Willow, Angel's not here and it's me. Not the Buffy everyone knows here. I'm a Slayer. I don't know anything about acting. I don't know these people. And most of all, I don't know Orlando. I can't make myself love him."

"Given enough time….."

"I can't learn to act by next month either."

"Maybe….."

"Stop saying maybe, God damn it! Willow, you're the most powerful witch in the entire world. I'm sure there is a way to get us back. So sit your ass down and start working on it because I can't stay here." The front door opened and closed. "Oh, Jesus, what now!?"

"Babe?" Orlando called.

Buffy looked at Willow. "Sit down and act natural." She sat down on the sofa across from Willow, facing the door. "In the living room."

"Hey, what's….. Oh, I didn't know we had company."

"Yeah. This is, uh, this is my friend Willow. She's a super smart computer whiz in San Francisco. I met her when I was there a long time ago."

"Oh. Hi." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Buffy's never mentioned you before."

"Well, you know, she can be forgetful sometimes." Willow said.

"That she can." He looked at Buffy. "What do you want for dinner? My treat, whatever you pick."

"Well, I think Justin said something about Chi."

"He wants us to come eat there?"

"Yeah. Uh, he said he'd have something special for us."

"You want to go?"

"Uh, yeah. It'd be fun."

"I'll call him. You just stay here and catch up with your friend." He kissed her cheek and left the room.

"Ahh!" Willow said. "He's so cute."

"Willow." Buffy said.

"What? He is. He obviously loves you. What does your mom think of him?"

"Willow."

"Ok, ok. I get it. You want to get out of here."

"Could you keep it down?" Buffy whispered. "I don't want anybody getting too suspicious."

"Listen, I don't know what to tell you. I've ran this over in my head over and over again and I can't think of any way to get out. Maybe this spell has to run its course, like the last one."

"You mean, we have to learn a lesson from it?"

"Maybe."

"Like what would I learn? How to cheat on your husband while on vacation in another dimension?"

"No. I don't know. Buffy, I don't have the answers. I don't have anything. I'm sorry."

"Listen, why don't you call Giles. See if he remembers us. I doubt it though."

"What about you?"

"What about me? I'm stuck in a world with a man I don't even know, with a life that's built on a career I don't know how to do, and I have friends that know me better than I know myself because I don't know who I am here."

"I meant, what are you going to do in the meantime?"

"Babe, Justin says for us to meet him there at seven." Orlando said, poking his head in the room.

"I guess I'm going to Chi." Buffy said.

"Why don't you invite Willow, too? I'm sure she doesn't want to stay here by herself."

"Yeah. Ok."

"Great."

"I guess you're going to Chi too."

"What's Chi?" Willow asked.

"Justin's restaurant, I think."

"Oh. Ok. Is it any good?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out."

"Are you gonna be ok?"

"Why?"

"You're gonna have to pretend to be in love with Orlando tonight and any time you go in public with him."

"Oh poo."

"I wouldn't mind if I wasn't gay."

"Well, I'm the one that's married."

"Not here."

"Willow."

"Well, maybe it'll help you work up your acting skills."

"Let's just hope that it doesn't come to that."

"Come to what?"

"Me having to actually act." Buffy sighed. "It's five thirty now. We have an hour and a half. You start cracking on your theories on how to get home. I'll find us stuff to wear."

"Oh, sure. Take the fun job."

"But yours is more important." Buffy shot back as she walked out of the room.

"I don't remember you ever mentioning Willow before." Orlando said as she walked into the bedroom. He was wrapped in a towel headed for the bathroom. _Wow. How many girls get to see this!?_

"Oh, you know, I haven't thought about her in a while. I read something about her in the paper and I thought, why don't I call her? And then I found out she was coming up to LA today….. for a while….. and I offered to let her stay here instead of a hotel. At least she'd feel more comfortable. Right?"

"You're always being so charitable. That's just one of the many reasons I love you."

Buffy smiled. "Ah, that's so sweet."

"Care to join me?" He asked, nodding towards the bathroom.

"Uh, I would love to, but I told Willow I'd help her set up in the other bedroom and I'd find her something pretty to wear. She didn't plan on going out much." Buffy started to head into the closet, but stopped. "Uh….. What are you going to wear?"

"Jeans and a T-shirt. Same as always."

"Ok."

"But you still better dress pretty. I love it when you dress pretty." He winked at her and went into the bathroom.

"Oh boy." Buffy headed into the closet.

* * *

Buffy walked down the street by herself. She had snuck out of the house and gone for a late night walk while Orlando had been asleep next to her. She felt awful that she had allowed herself to go to bed with him when she was married to Angel, but Willow said that she couldn't arouse any suspicions. So, she had pretended to be asleep until she was sure that Orlando was out for the night and then snuck out quietly.

Now, as she walked by herself down the dark road, she found herself thinking what if. What if she really was stuck here? Could she just forget about Angel and move on to Orlando? And the worst part, what if she could? What would that say about the love she would always feel about Angel? _Stop it Buffy._ She thought. _You're going to get back somehow._

Suddenly a horn blared and Buffy turned just in time to get hit by a car. She flew back and into the bushes on the side of the road. The car that had hit her kept driving, obviously scared that he had just killed a person and didn't want to take the rap for it. "Jerk." Buffy stood up and brushed herself off. "People in the Hills think they can….. Oh my God!" She looked down at herself. Nothing broken. Maybe a couple of bruises or scrapes. "Oh my God!" Buffy took off running back to her house. She ran quietly up the stairs and into Willow's room. "Wake up! Willow! Wake up." Buffy turned on the lights. "Get up."

"What?" Willow sat up, squinting groggily against the light.

"You'll never believe this!"

"Buffy….. It's three in the morning. You're supposed to be asleep."

"I just got hit by a car."

"Ok. You're fine, so go back to bed."

"No! Willow, I just got hit by a car and look! No broken anything!"

Willow stared at her and then her eyes widened as it dawned on her completely. "Oh my God! You're still the Slayer!"

"I'm still the Slayer! How's that possible? I thought you said….."

"Apparently, when we got transferred here, our true essence came with us. Or at least a part of it did. Usually you wouldn't even get these scratches."

"Have you tried using magick?"

"What?"

"Have you tried….."

"No. I didn't think it was possible here since this was a world that's not supposed to have magick."

"Try!"

Willow looked around. "What should I try?"

"Float something."

Willow picked up a little crystal dolphin statue and concentrated. After a second, the thing lifted out of her hand and floated back down to the table. "It worked!"

"It worked! Do you know what this means? Willow, we can go home!" Willow's face fell. "What? What's that look for?"

"Buffy….. I don't know how."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what spell I used to get here. It just happened. I wouldn't know how to reverse it."

"Make something up."

"It's not that simple. There has to be herbs and sands that probably aren't sold anywhere. And the spell….. This isn't _Charmed_. It's not that easy to make up a spell off the top of your head."

"Willow, people believe that magick is real. That's why _Charmed_ is so popular. Besides, there are magick shops all over this town. We could go to one and find the stuff you need. And you know a lot about that stuff, so you could, like, make it or something."

"The magick shops are all cheesy rip offs. There's no guarantee that they'd have what I need."

"Willow….."

"And besides, what magick shop is going to be open this late at night?"

"You can go tomorrow morning. We'll go to everyone we can find and you can get what you need."

Willow sighed. "Ok. Fine. But can I get back to sleep?"

* * *

Buffy was the first one up and going. She sat in the living room waiting for Willow to wake up when Orlando walked in, shirtless, and sat next to her. "Hey."

"Hey." Buffy said, glancing at him.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. You seem….. distant."

"Do I?"

"What happened to you last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up and you weren't there."

"Oh, I went for a walk. I couldn't sleep for some reason, so I thought the night air would be soothing."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and neck. "Was it?"

"I came back to bed didn't I?"

He smiled. "Good point. Well, I have a surprise for you."

"You do?"

"Yes." He looked at his watch. "We have an hour and a half before we have to be there, so I better get dressed."

"What? Be where?"

"It's a surprise."

"Orlando….."

"Be right back." He kissed her forehead and disappeared.

"Crap."

Willow walked in wearing her PJs. "Morning. What time are we going to….."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Orlando's got some surprise planned for me and he wants to leave. As in now."

"Buffy….."

"Take the Mustang. It has that GPS thing in it. You'll be able to find whatever magick shop you want."

"So, I have to do this by myself?"

"Sorry."

"No. I guess it's ok. I mean, you're not the most skilled person at magick."

"I don't have any skills at all. I just wish I could help, you know?"

"It's ok. Act like you're the normal Buffy from this world. Not ours. So, go and have fun with Orlando. After all, once we get back, he won't even know you exist."

"But I'll be back with Angel. And I'll be with my son. That's my family and that's all that matters." With that, the Slayer walked into her closet.

* * *

Buffy walked back in to the house with Orlando. "That was amazing! Thank you so much."

"Well, I try." He said, squeezing her hand.

"How did you get us in to swim with them?"

"I just asked. Not hard to get them to say yes when your us."

"I thought you didn't like to use your fame."

"Only when it's to get my fiancé something she loves."

"And I loved swimming with the dolphins. It was a lot of fun."

"Well, I'm going to take a shower. You want to join?"

"Uh….. Later. I want to find Willow."

"Ok." He kissed her cheek and walked to their room.

"Willow!" Buffy headed to Willow's room and opened the door. "Will, you'll never believe what Orlando and I just….." The witch was sitting on her bed crying. "What's wrong?"

"It didn't work." Willow said. "I'm sorry, Buffy, it didn't work."

"What do you mean?"

"I got everything I needed. I even mixed all the right things to make what I needed, but it didn't work."

"Try again."

"I already have. I've tried it six times and they all didn't work."

Buffy leaned against the doorframe and hung her head. "I'm stuck here?"

"We both are."

"I'm really stuck here? I can't believe this."

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I really am."

"It's not your fault."

"No. It is. I'm the one that caused all this. If it weren't for me, you'd be with your husband right now."

Buffy sighed. "I need to go."

"Go where?"

"Out. Away." She turned and headed for the door at a sprint.

"Buffy!"

"Buffy?" Orlando came out of the room and watched her run past. "Buffy!" The door slammed behind her. "What happened?"

"Uh….." Willow looked at Orlando. "I just told her some upsetting news about, um, about me."

"What's that?"

"I'm uh….. I've got this rare disease and I'm probably going to die."

"Oh my God. I'm sorry."

"It's not contagious, so you guys don't have to worry, but, um….. I just got the results back from my doctor."

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

"You're taking it well."

"Not really. I'm just good at hiding my emotions. Excuse me." Willow walked back into her room and shut the door.

* * *

Buffy walked in later that night and sat on the couch next to Orlando. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Just….. No." Buffy said.

"Willow told me. I'm sorry to hear that she's dying."

"Yeah. I don't really know how to deal with news like that, so I bailed."

"It's ok. I understand."

Buffy looked Orlando in the eyes. "Do you love me?"

"Of course I love you. Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know. Just making sure."

"I've loved you since the moment I saw you. There's no one else for me, I'm convinced of it."

Buffy nodded. "Can you run a bath for me? A hot one."

"Of course. You want bubbles?"

"Yeah. Sure."

He got up. "I'm here for you and I do love you Buffy. More than you'll ever know." With that, he left.

"I hope I can learn to love you too." She murmured.

After her bath, Buffy went to sleep and curled up on Orlando's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. He was comfortable, but he still wasn't Angel. She cried herself to sleep thinking about everything she was being forced to give up. Until this day, the thought of losing those she loved most had never occurred to her in this way. She was being forced to forget people she had known for years and loved deeply for people she barely knew except for what the tabloids and magazines said about them.

* * *

The sun shone down on Buffy's face and she opened them. She was still laying on Orlando's chest. Apparently she hadn't moved much all night. "Morning sleepy head."

Buffy shot up and off the bed. She peered over the edge to find Angel sitting there staring at her. "Are you ok?"

"Oh my God, Angel!" Buffy flew into his arms and kissed him deeply. "It's really you! Oh, Angel!"

"Buffy!" Willow came running in the room and jumped on the bed. "We're back. It worked!"

"What's going on? Back from where?" Angel asked.

Buffy hugged Willow tightly. "I'm sorry."

"No I'm sorry." Willow said. "It's my fault it happened."

"But we're back now and it's ok. I didn't mean to run out on you like that."

"No, you were grieving. It's ok."

"What's going on? What are you two talking about?" Angel asked. "You were normal yesterday."

"Yesterday?" The girls asked.

"When we went to the movies. You do remember that?"

"Of course we do." Buffy said. "It's just….." She saw Angel's confused expression. "It's just nothing. We're crazy and that's all that matters."

"Ok, well, would you two like some breakfast?"

"Sure." Both girls said.

"Ok." He turned on the TV. "You guys watch that and I'll bring you up some breakfast." Angel left the room shaking his head. "I swear, they get weirder every day."

"The Awful Truth!" Buffy and Willow looked at the TV. "Are Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth engaged? According to my sources….."

Buffy flipped off the TV. "Enough of that for one day."


	6. Separation

Chapter 6 

Buffy ran as fast as her legs would carry her and then jumped. She landed on top of the mausoleum and crouched down. The vampire that had been chasing her ran past the crypt and then stopped. He sniffed the air and looked around. Buffy dove off the crypt and tackled the vamp, rolling to her feet and facing the vamp in a slight crouch. She slipped the stake out of her sleeve and into her hand.

"You're one tough chick to kill." The vamp hissed.

"I try." With that, Buffy threw herself at the vamp and within minutes the vamp was dust in the wind and the Slayer brushed herself off.

Xander came jogging up, clearly out of breath. "Next time….. you decide to take off like that….. give a guy some warning….. will ya?"

"Sorry." Buffy put the stake back in her sleeve.

Xander groaned and straightened up, holding the hitch in his side. "Where'd Angel and Connor go?"

"Dunno. I lost em."

"Man, Buff, you've been chasing vamps and demons non-stop like this for the past week. What's up with you?"

"What do mean? I'm just doing my job."

"Yeah, and when was the last time you actually gave a chase like that? Never mind. Let's just find Angel and Connor, get the others, and get out….."

Buffy held up her hand. "Did you hear something?"

"Apart from my lungs collapsing?" She looked at him. "No."

"I swear there was another one….." Buffy moved towards a large headstone and peered around it. Another vampire sprung up from the grave and flew at her. She ducked and rolled, coming up behind the vampire. It turned and came at her again, fangs bared. "Not today slappy." She whacked the thing in the face a couple of times and kneed it in the stomach. As it was doubled over she slipped the stake out again and the vampire was dust.

"And that makes vamp number what for you? I lost count even before this night started."

"Buffy." Angel walked up behind Xander with Connor following close behind. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Running off like that. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"You were letting them get away."

"You were the one that led us into that nest."

"I didn't know it was a nest. I just thought that there were a couple of them in there."

"Well, there was twelve, not two, and you almost got us all killed. You're starting to get reckless, Buffy."

"Reckless? I know what I'm doing. I've been the Slayer for a decade now."

"That doesn't matter….."

Buffy's phone rang and she turned away from Angel. "Yeah?"

"All clear on this side." Spike said.

"You got nothing?"

"Sorry luv."

"I was sure there were more over that way."

"How many did you get?"

"Twelve."

"Nicely done."

"Not just me. I myself got seven of them. The others got the last five."

"Still, you're the best."

"I know. Meet you in five." Buffy hung up and started walking.

"Where're you going now?" Angel asked.

"To meet Spike and Faith. It's still early."

"Buffy….."

It was too late. She had already disappeared behind a row of crypts. Xander looked at Angel. "What's with her lately? She hasn't been the same since she was possessed by that cat-demon."

"No. She hasn't been the same since we got to Wolfram and Hart."

"You think she's worried about them coming back and she wants to take out as many threats as possible in a marathon-slaying kinda way?"

"No. I just think she's….. I don't know."

"Well, I think she's overdoing it."

"You're not the only one." Angel looked around. "Where's Connor?"

* * *

Buffy, Connor, Faith, and Spike walked into the dark Hyperion lobby. Connor had gone to catch up with his mother and the others. They had managed to find five more vamps before they had returned home. "I'm starving." Connor said.

"Me too." Buffy said.

"I told you we should have stopped at Tony Romas." Spike said.

"We could always go back." Faith offered.

"Nah. It's too late now. They're closing." Buffy said.

"Waffle House?" Connor asked.

"Their pancakes are too thin." Spike said.

"How 'bout Denny's?" Faith asked.

"That sounds good." Buffy said. "I could go for a French Toast Slam right about now. Lemme grab my purse."

"You left it in the living room upstairs." Connor said.

"Damn, you're right. I'll have to face Angel."

"What's wrong with that?" Spike asked.

"He's not exactly in a good mood. He's been extra broody lately."

"Oh well. Ponce goes into those downer moods every now and then. I've had to put up with it for a century."

"Be right back."

"Hurry up. I think I'm getting weak from the hunger." Faith said, her stomach growling loud enough for them to hear.

Buffy took the steps two or three at a time and was at the door to her apartment in no time. Angel was watching TV on the other side of the door. It still struck her as odd that a 252 year old vampire like Angel could sit down and watch things like E! News Live and SNL and actually enjoy it. She shook her head and walked in. She headed straight for the end table where her purse sat and grabbed it.

"Where're you going?" Angel asked.

"Out. We're hungry."

"Who's we?"

"Faith, Spike, Connor, and me."

"You just got back."

"And?"

"Buffy, what's up with you lately? Everyone's noticed this change in you and….."

"Change? I've changed? Last time I looked I'm still the same Buffy."

"You haven't really been the same since Wolfram and Hart."

"It didn't change me. I'm fine. And I've got to go."

"Buffy, please talk to me."

"There's really nothing to talk about. My friends are waiting."

"Buffy….."

"Bye Angel." Buffy shut the door and then leaned against it. She knew on some subconscious level that Angel was right. She was acting slightly irrational. But can you blame an immortal gal? She had all the time in the world and there was really nothing she couldn't do. Come on, she survived injuries that would have killed even the strongest demon. How much more proof did someone need to show them that she really was going to live forever?

* * *

Angel walked up to Willow sitting at the computer and leaned against the counter. "Hey Angel." She said, not looking up.

"Hey Willow." Angel said, peering at the screen.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You have that look."

"What lo….. You haven't even looked up from the screen."

"I can sense these kind of things." Willow stopped typing and looked up. "See. I knew it."

"It's Buffy."

"Xander's already talked to me about it."

"He has?"

"He said that Buffy's been all crazy with the Slaying the last few days and that you two are worried about her."

"Count on Xander to steal my thunder."

"Angel, whatever's wrong with Buffy, she'll get over it. It's Buffy. She always gets over it."

"Yeah, but her friends usually get hurt in the process."

"Not always. I'm worried about her too, but she's going through a hard time. It's her first few months of being the head Slayer of the Watcher's Council. It's stressful. Just give her some time."

"I wish I could, but she's not even giving me any time."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed the brush-offs she's been giving me?" Willow shook her head. "She comes in, says maybe, and this if I'm lucky, five words to me and then heads off to God only knows where. She rarely answers her cell phone, so no one can find her….."

"Angel, like I said, she's just stressed. Whenever she gets stressed, she slays. Giles told me that she said Slaying is like comfort food for her."

"You haven't seen the way she's been out there. She chases them down like a dog and then runs them into the ground with the stake pinning them there."

"Comfort food."

"And I want to talk to her, but I can't even do that. I tried last night, but she gave me yet another brush-off. It's so frustrating!" The coffee cup full of pencils that Angel had been fiddling with suddenly burst in his hand, sending pencils, pens, and shards of the cup flying.

Willow shook her head. "Angel, you really should try to relax. I think you're just as stressed as Buffy is. Maybe that's why she's been avoiding you. She senses that pent up stress and figures you need time." Willow brushed the broken pencils and shards of the cup into a trashcan. "Don't worry about the cup. I'll finish cleaning it up."

Angel looked at Buffy across the lobby chatting with Faith and Spike. She didn't seem stressed to him at all. But maybe Willow was right. Maybe they were both stressed and they just needed some time to adjust.

* * *

Buffy and Spike walked along the front side of the cemetery while Faith and Connor patrolled the back. There were four new vampires that had been made and were going to rise tonight and the Fantastic Four were going to take them out.

"Don't know why you brought in the heavy artillery." Spike said.

Buffy hefted her scythe. "You never know."

"I think you like the tinglys it gives you."

"Those aren't bad either."

"So, what's up with you and Angel?"

"Oh, don't even get me started."

"Come on. There's something wrong, I'd like to find out and poke fun at Peaches with it."

"Spike….."

"I'm kidding. Sort of." She raised her eyebrow at him. "All right, in all seriousness, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. He's been so….. controlling lately. He wants to coddle me when there's no coddling required."

"Go on."

"That was pretty much the it. I don't want to be coddled. I don't NEED to be coddled. I'm the Slayer. The original Slayer. I know what I'm doing and he acts like I just started yesterday!"

"Maybe he's just worried that you're going after the bad guys a little too feverishly and he wants you to slow down."

"If I slow down, the bad guys start to multiply. Isn't that what I was chosen for? To kill the bad guys?"

"Well, there was that time you were in a coma for two weeks after you fought said bad guys….."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, I bet Angel's worried that if you get too into this Slay-a-thon, something incredibly bad is going to happen. Something that could land you in the hospital longer or even in the morgue."

Buffy sighed. "Maybe you're right. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm the Slayer and this is what I do. If I get in trouble, I'll have you or Faith or Connor backing me up."

"Like now?"

"What?" Buffy looked around to find that she and Spike were suddenly surrounded by not only vampires, but also demons. "Yeah. Like now."


	7. Getting to the Root

Chapter 7 

Angel stood with Willow by the computer and read the page she had brought up. She had been looking into a small, but growing string of strange murders where the victims had four large holes in their stomachs and their eyes were missing and had found something incredibly interesting. "It's linked directly to this one guy." Willow blinked. "Well, he's not a guy. He's a demon. A tragnuocial (A/N pronounced trag-no-key-all) demon to be more specific."

"I thought they were extinct." Angel said.

"They are, but apparently this one survived."

"That means there could be more."

"What's the big deal about this tragnocall thing anyway?" Xander asked.

"Obviously you haven't seen one." Angel said. He looked at Willow. "But it doesn't make sense. Tragnuocial demons are supposed to be peaceful."

"It says here that every now and then a couple of them would sell themselves off as mercenaries. They can be really lethal when they're told to be, though."

"So this thing could be one of the mercenaries?" Xander asked.

"Maybe."

"What kind of people have been hit?"

"What?"

"You know, you said there was a string. Who were they?"

"I didn't look. I just followed the clues and found the demon."

"He's right." Angel said. "These people could be connected somehow."

"I'll look into it."

"What about Buffy?"

"I'll tell her if she decides to get in at a decent hour tonight." Angel slammed the door to the office.

"Brr….. I think the star-crossed lovers are looking to be uncrossed."

"You've noticed the tension too?" Willow asked. "Maybe I was wrong about the stress. Maybe there really is something wrong."

"Maybe." Xander looked at the closed office door.

* * *

"Watch out!" Spike yelled as a demon jumped off a headstone towards Buffy's back. She fell to the ground and rolled sideways so the demon was underneath her. Slamming her elbows into the thing's ribcage, she kicked up at the other demon she had been fighting. It flew back and she slammed the demon underneath her in the ribs again. It groaned and she jumped to her feet.

"They just keep coming!" Buffy yelled, dodging another vampire.

"Tell me about it. Where're Faith and Connor?"

"I don't know!" Buffy didn't turn in time and caught a bony fist to her cheek. "Damn it!" She felt blood start to trickle down her cheek. "Spike, we gotta get out of this!"

"I know!" There was a pop. "Bloody hell that hurt!"

Buffy jumped onto the wall of a nearby mausoleum and kicked off of it, kicking a vampire in the face and sending him flying into three oncoming demons. That cleared a path for her to get to her weapons packed in her large black duffel bag. She pulled out two crossbows and started shooting. They were both crossbows that automatically loaded. When she had run out of bows, she switched to her sais. These had been made cool by the character of Electra from Daredevil, but Buffy was way better than Jennifer Garner could ever hope to be.

Buffy started taking down demons as fast as she could, but she came up against one that had skin that seemed to be made of steel instead of skin. The middle blade of one of her sais broke and the demon grabbed her by the throat, hauling her into the air. She didn't see Spike anywhere and was starting to get a little worried. She tried to kick the thing in the leg, but all she got was a seriously stubbed toe.

Just as things started to go black, she was dropped hard to the ground and the demon disappeared from her vision. There were noises of fighting all around her, but it was hard to concentrate as she coughed and tried to get her air back on track. She felt her cell phone ringing in her back pocket and reached for it. "Yeah?" She gasped in a hoarse voice.

"Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you all right?"

"Kinda busy right now."

"Listen, you need to be on the look out for this demon….. His name is Nargul."

"Nargul?"

"He's a tragnuocial demon. He's real big and he's got really thick skin. Like steel or something and he's got a silvery-gray tint to him….."

"Well, I think I just met your boy. I'll call you back." Buffy hung up before Willow could say anything else and got to her feet. Faith and Connor were fighting the tragnuocial demon that Buffy had gone up against, but they were fairing just as bed as she had. Spike was laying unconscious on the ground a few feet from the main fight. The vampires and demons were still numerous, but not as numbered as before. "Guys, we gotta go!"

"What?" Connor called back. "We can take this guy." Just after the words left his mouth, Nargul sent Connor flying with a right hook. "Ow."

"Connor!" Buffy rushed to him and helped her son to his feet.

Faith ran over and grabbed Spike, who was just now coming around, and together, the four of them retreated. "What the hell was that?" Faith asked.

"That was a trigonometry demon." Buffy said.

"You mean a tragnuocial demon?" Spike asked.

"Whatever."

"They're extinct."

"Didn't look extinct to me when he was kicking our asses." Connor said.

"Now you admit we couldn't take him?" Buffy asked.

"I'm stubborn. You know that."

"Listen, we need to get back to the hotel and find out what the hell is going on." They jumped into Buffy's car and sped out onto the street. "Willow called back there and told me that I needed to watch out for that guy."

"I don't understand. They're extinct." Spike said. "What's a bloody tragnuocial demon doing running the streets of LA?"

"Apparently he didn't get the extinction memo."

* * *

The doors of the Hyperion burst open and Buffy, Connor, Faith, and Spike walked in. They looked pretty beaten up, especially Buffy and Spike. "What happened to you guys?" Xander asked.

"The extinct demon played dodgeball with us." Buffy said.

"What, did he play it with rocks instead of rubber balls?"

"No, he played with steel fists."

"That's just no fair."

"Willow, what's going on?"

"I don't know exactly." Willow said, coming around the desk. "This guy's unofficially linked to a number of murders in the area, but…."

"Spike says he's supposed to be dead."

"Not dead luv, extinct. Dead you can come back from." Spike said.

"Preaching to the choir."

"Well, his species is supposed to be extinct, but this guy managed to survive." Willow said. "He must be one of the mercenary demons."

"Mercenary demons?"

"Yeah, sometimes a few of these demons would loan their services to people for big money. They were the number one in demand mercenaries in the business. Or at least until they became extinct."

"This guy must be one of em then." Faith said.

"We need to find out who could've hired this guy. He seems to be after us personally." Buffy said.

"Why do you say that?" Connor asked.

"Because not many demons know my patrolling schedule. He's been following me. Sending in lackeys so he can figure out my fighting style. That's how he knew what moves I would pull. No one's ever gotten me into a throat lock that easily."

"And what about the mix?" Faith asked. "I didn't think demons and vampires played well together."

"They don't." Spike said. "I've only seen this once before."

"Adam." Buffy said. Spike nodded. "Well, the Initiative is gone, so we can rule them out. Now who else has the kind of power to bring those two evils together?"

"The Senior Partners."

"Maybe."

"We shouldn't rule them out, Buffy." Willow said.

"We won't. But something tells me that we're finished with them. This is bigger than the Senior Partners."

"What makes you say that?" Xander asked.

"I got a hunch."

"I've learned to trust your hunches. Let's go with the hunch."

"Good choice. Will, we need to find where this guy is hanging his hat."

"On it." Willow headed to the computer.

"Everyone else, let's try to learn more about this trig demon."

* * *

Buffy stepped out of the shower and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. They'd been up all night researching this tragnuocial demon and hadn't had much luck. They kept running into the same conclusion that these demons sometimes were hired as mercs, but they're supposed to be extinct and therefor there is no reason to write about them any further. Thankfully, the hotel was under the anti-demon spell, so Nargul couldn't get in here and do any damage. And that gave them the power to capture him.

"Got tired of reading?" Angel asked behind her.

She turned, holding up the towel. "You know, you need to get a reflection. I'm tired of you sneaking up on me."

"Vampire."

"Hence the 'get-a-reflection' part." Buffy brushed past Angel and headed for the closet.

"You're not planning on going out there again, are you?"

"Maybe. Why should you care?"

"Because the last time you went out, this Nargul nearly killed you."

"Strength in numbers. Faith and Connor were there."

"Yeah? And next time, they might not be."

"Well, that won't happen because we're not splitting up this time."

"You're not going out there again."

"What?"

"It's too dangerous and you're gonna get yourself killed."

"Ok, who the hell are you to tell me I can't go?"

"I'm your husband."

"Well, last time I looked, I was my own person capable of making my own decisions and I decided that I'm going to find this thing's lair, or house, or whatever it calls home, and I'm going to get the information we need to stop it. Or better yet, stop the people that sent this thing after us." Buffy walked out of the closet in dark, wide leg jeans and a tight black, plunging v-neck long sleeved shirt. She plopped down on the bed and started to slip on her knee-high, lace-up, combat boots. "So, if you want to sit here and sulk that I'm out there doing my job better than you, be my guest."

"What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Well, for starters, the last few days you've been nothing but bitchy towards me."

"Feeling's mutual."

"And another thing, you've been hanging out with Faith, Spike, and Connor like you guys are some high school clique that's cooler than everybody else."

"And you're jealous cause we didn't invite you? Get over it honey. At least we're actually out there doing something instead of moping around here.

"I'm not jealous at all. You four are completely reckless and it's getting dangerous for all of us."

"How is it getting dangerous for anybody else?"

"This guy isn't just after you, Buffy, he's after all of us. And by going out there half-cocked, you're giving him a direct shot at taking out all of us while you're gone."

"Anti-demon spell. Just hide here like you've been and you'll be safe and sound." Buffy started to walk out the door.

"Buffy….."

"What?"

"Would you just stop and think about what you're doing? What you're saying."

"I did. In the shower." With that, she walked out and headed for the lobby.

"Got it." Willow said. "I had to use a little magick on the computer to get through some nasty firewalls, but I got it."

"Good. Where's it at?"

"Beverly Hills." Willow handed Buffy the print out.

Buffy looked at the address. "Wow, he's big time money. God job, Will. You guys ready?"

"As always." Spike said.

"Let's do this." Faith grabbed a short sword from the weapons cabinet.

"Someone hand me my sword." Connor said. Once the four of them had gathered their weapons and hid them in their clothing, they headed out into the night.

Willow looked over at Xander. "You think she was a little gung-ho about crashing Nargul's place?"

"I think they all were." Xander said.

"I wonder why didn't Angel go with them?"

"Because he's not part of the super-friends. I tell ya, those four are flashing me back to high school."

"Maybe Buffy just wants to hang out with people who have the same strength as her."

"Then why didn't she invite Angel and Illyria?"

"Good question."

* * *

Buffy crouched in the bushes with Connor, Faith, and Spike outside of the dark mansion. There was no one home at the moment, or that's the way it appeared. But there were four guards in the front yard walking around with dogs and five in the back yard. They faced a deck with a large Jacuzzi and outdoor kitchen on it. They had managed to avoid the guards and their dogs by sticking to the bushes, but now they were out of shrubbery.

"What now?" Connor asked.

"We find the quietest and quickest way in." Buffy said.

"Wanna try the back door?" Faith asked.

"Now that never works." Spike said.

When they couldn't see any guards, Buffy and Faith stood up and quickly slunk over to the back door. Faith reached out and turned the knob. They door opened and the two Slayers disappeared inside. Spike and Connor waited to see if any more guards were headed their way and they snuck inside too, closing the door behind them.

"You'd think a place like this would have an alarm system." Connor whispered.

"Maybe he figures the small army of guards and the dogs are enough." Faith said.

"Shh. We have to split up." Buffy said. "Connor, you and I take upstairs. Faith and Spike, you guys cover downstairs. Look for anything that could tell us who hired this guy."

With that, they went their separate ways. There actually wasn't a lot upstairs given the size of the place. It consisted of an enormous bedroom, an almost equally enormous bathroom, and a pretty large office. They started with the office, working their way through the filing cabinets and drawers.

"God, this guy is old." Connor whispered. "There are papers that date back to the 1500s in here."

"We're thinking recent Connor." Buffy whispered.

"I know, but how old do you think this guy is?"

"I don't know. All I want to find out is who hired this guy and why." She went over to the desk and opened the top drawer. "Bingo." There was a thick file that read CONFIDENTIAL: BUFFY SUMMERS. "Connor."

"What?"

"I found it. Or at least I found something." She opened the file and found a few photos of herself and the others on top. Skipping through those, she found papers filled with facts on her life. Facts that should have been erased a long time ago. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"This is everything about me. Everything that should have been erased when the Monks made Dawn and when we erased us from your memory. The day that Angel erased is even in here. This is literally EVERYTHING about me from the moment I became a Slayer."

"You're not the only one he's got files on."

Buffy looked at what Connor meant. The drawer, which should have been only big enough for this one file, contained numerous files just as thick as Buffy's and some thicker. Each read like hers. CONFIDENTIAL: CONNOR SUMMERS. CONFIDENTIAL: WILLOW ROSENBURG. CONFIDENTIAL: ALEXANDER HARRIS. CONFIDENTIAL: DAWN SUMMERS.

"How could they know all of this?" Connor asked.

"I think I know." Buffy and Connor's heads shot up to find Nargul standing in the doorway. "The Powers That Be gave those to me personally."


	8. The New Big Bad

A/N Sorry this story is taking so long. I've got a lot on my plate right now and it's hard to get time to sit down and write. I'm doing the best I can and I just wanted to apologize to everyone. Chapter 8 

"The Powers?" Buffy asked.

Nargul walked a little further into the room and turned on a light. "The very ones."

"I thought they were the good guys."

"They don't have a side. They're just there for the balance."

"They hired you to kill us?" Connor asked.

"I'm not at liberty to tell you that. You are in my home though, and I kill intruders just because they piss me off. So I get to kill two birds with two stones."

Buffy looked at Connor and then they both kicked the desk. It flew up and hit Nargul in the chest, knocking him back. Buffy and Connor turned and dove out the window. They landed in the side yard and took off towards the back. Faith and Spike came running out of the back door and the four ran with all their might back to the car. They could hear guards yelling and car doors slamming behind them.

"Did you have to make so much noise, pet?" Spike asked. "Or did you forget about the dozen guards with dogs walking around the property."

"Nargul showed up." Connor said as Buffy sped away.

"What? I didn't hear anything."

"He was there."

"Bugger must've slipped right past us."

"Hold on." Buffy made a hard right turn and then another hard left turn.

"I think we've lost them." Faith said.

"Not taking any chances."

"Doesn't matter anyway. The guy knows where we live." Connor said.

"Did you find out who hired that guy?" Spike asked.

"Oh we found a lot more than that." Connor held up the files they had managed to get away with.

"Good God!" Faith said. "What is all that?"

"It's everything on us." Buffy said, speeding around another corner and then finally slowing down. "And I mean everything. We grabbed what we could, but this guy's got a never ending drawer full of files on all of us."

"How's that?" Spike asked.

"The Powers That Be."

"What?"

"No freakin way." Faith said.

"I don't know if I can believe it or not." Buffy said.

"Well, I can." Spike said. "It's about bloody time that those ponces show their true colors." They all looked at him. "You can't tell me you haven't thought of it before now."

"The thought did cross my mind, but I thought they were supposed to be on our side."

"Please. They abandoned humanity. You don't think they couldn't've stopped all those apocalypses from ever starting? Smacked down the Senior Partners before they got too big for their britches? Taken out the First?" The car was quiet. "Look at the way the first Slayer was made. You two girls said it yourselves that those three men raped her with demon energy. It's not like the Powers couldn't've intervened on that one."

"Spike….." Faith started.

"You know it's true."

"Then why now? Why haven't they tried to stop us before?" Buffy asked.

"Maybe they got tired of letting everyone else do their dirty work and having you….. All of us thwart them. Until you came along, evil was chugging along at more than a brisk pace, luv. And I don't think they counted on you finding that scythe either."

"Why?"

"Because that put more power into your hands than you realize. With all these Slayers, you have the power to destroy all evil, Buffy. I think the Powers are finally stepping up to the plate."

"If you're right, and I'm not saying you are because I really don't want to think about it that way quite yet, but if you are….. Do you realize what we're up against?"

"I think I got the picture." Connor said.

"No. The Powers That Be….. They control everything."

"Not everything luv." Spike said.

"What do mean?"

"If they did, you wouldn't be here."

* * *

Willow, Xander, Angel, Dawn, and Illyria all sat on the opposite couch staring at Buffy, Connor, Faith, and Spike. The files were laid on the table in front of them according to the person. They had just told the others of what they had discovered and the theories that had been developed on the car ride over.

"The Powers?" Willow asked.

"That's what Nargul said." Connor said.

"Can you run that by me again?" Xander asked.

"What's there to not get!" Buffy asked, standing up.

"I'm sorry Buff, but it's really hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the guys that we always thought were batting for our side have been slowly disintegrating our team from the inside."

"Look, I know this is confusing. But the way we figure it, they've been playing ALL the good guys from the beginning. It wasn't until our team came up to bat that they decided to start playing ball." She started to pace. "The Powers are threatened by us. For the first time, we've broken all of their rules. We've started playing against them and….."

"We've severely paid for it." Angel said quietly.

"What?"

"Look around, Buffy. They've taken some of our best people. Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, Tara…. Who's next?"

"I don't know."

"I do." They all stared at him, but his eyes were on Buffy. "We're next. You and I."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you see? Things between us have never been this bad. It didn't even start getting this bad until the last few months."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Buffy, we've relied on each other for strength and hope for years. That's why there have been so many obstacles between us since the very beginning. The Powers, they knew and they tried to intervene."

"But they didn't succeed."

"They're starting to. And they know it now. They're up there, watching us and laughing as we fight more and more on a nightly basis. And we're down here playing right into their hands. I don't want to fight with you."

"I don't either."

"But the urge is there, isn't it?" Buffy nodded. "I feel like I want to rip your throat out for being such….. such….." He growled and then looked away. After a minute, he looked back at her. "We have to fight it."

"It won't be enough."

"What do you mean?"

"She's right." Spike said. "This doesn't stop at you and ducks here. It's all of us. Sure, you two are some pretty hefty glue that holds this pow wow together, but even separated we're all powerful in our own right. Buffy's the super-Slayer. Faith's always relied on herself even before she became a Slayer. I'm a vampire who's survived for over a century. You're Angelus. Everyone here's seen what you can do. Illyria's a god. Big Red has more power in her than the Vegas power plant. Xander's pretty self-reliant. He sees things that no else here can. And Dawn….. She's gotten incredibly good at being Watcher Junior. You see what I'm saying?"

They were all silent, contemplating what this meant. Spike was right. This wasn't just about Buffy and Angel, it was about every last one of them. It was about these eight people standing in the way of a plan to slowly decay the fabric of good and allow evil to sink into the world. It was Illyria who broke the silence.

"Why would they allow a Slayer to be made?"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"If this was their plan, to destroy the world so slowly that no one noticed, why would they allow a champion of virtue that symbolized the very thing they are trying to destroy to be made?"

Buffy thought about that, then said, "To make it look like they were putting their two cents in on good's side to make it even less noticeable. God! Why didn't I see it before? All those times we complained about the Powers never stepping in and helping out…. I should've seen it coming."

"What do we do now?" Willow asked.

Buffy sat down next to Angel and took his hand despite wanting to be on the other side of the room away from him. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

"We'll figure something out." Angel said, squeezing her hand. "We always do."

Buffy smiled tightly as Xander said, "What about Nargul? Do you think he'll attack here?"

"Odds are, if he knows that much about us, he knows about the protection spell." Buffy said. "But that doesn't mean he won't be lying in wait outside."

"So that means we can't go anywhere?" Dawn asked.

"Not saying that. Just don't go out without a group of people."

"So we're trapped?"

"Not trapped. Just stuck for a while."

"We need to get rid of him."

"I know that Dawn, but I don't know how." Buffy took a deep breath. "Look, all I know is that this guy is hard to kill. His skin is more like armor than actual flesh. We're going to have to do some digging around to find this guy's weaknesses."

"We've been digging, Buffy." Willow said. "This guy….. There's nothing on him but a name and an address."

"Then there has to be more."

"Not unless he wanted to be found." Connor said.

"What?" Angel asked.

"He wanted to be found. Or the Powers wanted him to be found."

"Why? So we could know that they're the real bad guys?"

"Exactly. Throw that fact at us and we lose hope. Like we're doing right now."

"We're not….." Dawn started.

"He's right. We are." Buffy said, standing up. "You guys are acting like a bunch of…. of HUMANS! We're better than this. We stop things like this on a weekly basis. So stop your whimpering and get on it." They stared at her, obviously trying to hide that she'd hurt them. "I'm sorry. I guess the agitation doesn't just stop at Angel."

"Question." Faith said. "Why would you, me, Spike, and Connor be getting along so great when you're feeling like you want to rip everyone else's throats out?"

"I don't know. Maybe because we never hung out this much before and the Powers are trying to separate all of us. Start with the jealousy angle for the people that are closest and then once we're separated, I guess the Fantastic Four was supposed to be next."

"Good answer."

"Thanks."

"Ok. So, Buffy's right." Angel said. "We need to buckle down, focus on this Nargul. Willow, get into other realms if you have to and see what you can find on him. Meanwhile, everyone else keep looking around here. We've got to get more information on this guy so we can take him on."

* * *

Buffy walked into the living room of her apartment and looked at Angel brooding on the couch. "I thought we weren't going to be mad at each other."

Angel looked at her. "I'm trying not to be, but it's like now that I know what's wrong, it's harder to hold it back."

"Maybe we shouldn't hold back. Maybe we should get it all out in the open."

"Why, so we can kill each other?"

"No, so we can clear the air, maybe start fresh."

"And how would that work, smartie?"

"Watch it." Buffy shook her head. "It might relieve some tension between us."

"You don't want to get into our issues, Buffy. It'll take longer than we have and more energy than you've got."

"Hey, I'm gonna live forever. I got time."

"Is that what's been bothering you?"

"What, that I'm never going to grow old and I have to sit back and watch the people I care about wither and die? No, Angel, that doesn't bother me at all."

Angel took a few deep breaths. "I know how you feel. That's one reason I pulled away from people for so long. I didn't want to be witness to their lives and then their deaths. It's a lot to carry."

"It's a burden I didn't ask for."

"And I didn't either, but we'll have to live with it."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then kill yourself. Take the coward's way out."

Buffy blinked. "That was little harsh."

"Well, it's true. If you're going to whine about being immortal, do it to somebody else who isn't. Been there done that, Summers. Get over it and move on. I did."

"Oh, you arrogant…."

"Buffy….."

"No. We're not going to stop there. Time to get this crap out of the way."

"Fine, I'll play."

"Good, cause we already are. I'm tired of you treating me like some little girl. I can handle myself and I don't need to answer to you every five seconds."

"Sorry if I care. Just wanted to make sure my WIFE wasn't laying dead in a street somewhere. Or worse, sleeping with someone she claims is just a friend."

"Oh, you canNOT pull that on me. Spike and I are over with. It was one night."

"Yeah. And you're going to tell me that you two haven't been spending all this time together over the last year and not tried anything."

"Sorry if I have a life outside of you, Angel. I have a right to it, you know. Spike's my friend, nothing more. If anyone has the incentive to be unfaithful, it's you. You're the one that's lived for 300 years. You've got to be bored with me by now. Maybe I should go look up someone else."

"I have never been unfaithful to you."

"Does the name Gwen the Electro-Slut ring a bell to you?"

"She kissed me!"

"And you didn't pulled away until you knew that I was standing there."

"You cannot be serious. You've been pissed at me about that for all this time?"

"And I saw the way you looked at Eve. If I hadn't of been there, you'd be screwing her brains out just because she was Lindsey's girl and you would have just loved the opportunity to show him up."

"Now that was uncalled for."

"And let's keep going, shall we? Nina. The girl's had the hots for you from the first tranq dart. And you didn't do anything about it until I told you to."

"Why would I go for Nina? You've got plenty of screwed up issues to keep me busy for the rest of my eternal life."

"I'VE got issues? What about you Mr. Killing Spree? It seems like you can't go a year without killing at least one good guy."

"You can't use Angelus against me and you know it."

"I wasn't talking exclusively about Angelus."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"Let's see, what about the name Drogyn? Does that ring anything?" Angel didn't say anything. "Thought so."

"You're being an irrational child."

"ME?"

"Yes, you. You're brining up all these old issues that got resolved a long time ago."

"Well maybe they were never resolved."

"Then you're one hell of an actress."

"And maybe loving you was all an act."

"What would you even get out of it?" Angel noticed they were face-to-face, pressing in on each other. "Huh?"

"This." Without another word, Buffy crushed her lips to Angel's. He hungrily accepted and grabbed her waist. She shoved him away and he fell onto the couch. Within milliseconds, she was straddling him and ripping his shirt open, sending buttons flying. He brought her lips to his again greedily and then picked them up off the couch. Buffy wrapped her legs around him and worked her way down his neck while he pried her shirt off over her head and slammed her against a wall. She dropped to the ground and yanked his pants down around his ankles. He waited until she was standing straight again before he picked her back up and carried her to the bedroom, slamming the door behind them.


	9. Back Where We Belong

Chapter 9 

Buffy slipped on a new shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. There were bruises on her neck and shoulders, her arms, and her legs. She and Angel had gotten incredibly rough with each other. They had never acted like that before and it scared Buffy that they had it in them. She took out the gauze and started to bandage the bite mark on her neck. She winced at the thought that she had allowed him to bite into her like that. When she was finished, she looked at herself in the mirror. She felt disgusted with herself that she and Angel had turned into such animals. The two most passionate and loving people in their group of friends and they had….

"All right, Summers. Stop dwelling on it. It happened." Buffy muttered to herself in the mirror. "Can't change that."

"You know this is exactly how it's supposed to be." Her reflection said. Buffy stumbled back and stared at the mirror. "Come on, you knew it would come out eventually."

"No. You're the First. Go away."

"I'm not the First, honey. I'm you. Or at least the part of you that has any brains."

"Stop it."

"You know you got rid of the First. That thing doesn't have enough power to come back and haunt you again. At least not for a few centuries."

"What do you want?"

"I'm trying to talk some sense into you. You turned into the thing we want you to become in there. Why won't you just let it go?"

Buffy stopped. "We. You said we."

"You caught that, huh? Well, darn."

"You're not going to win."

Buffy's voice in the reflection took on an echo, as if a bunch of other people were talking too. "Oh, I think we will. We've been at this since before the dawn of time. You won't stop it. You're insignificant. You all are."

"Really? Then why are you trying so hard to put us down?" Buffy's reflection returned to normal. "That's what I thought."

"Who are you talking to?" Angel asked from the doorway.

Buffy gasped and stared at him. "God, Angel….. You scared the hell out of me."

He looked around the bathroom. "Who were you talking to?"

"Uh….." Buffy glanced at the mirror. "Myself."

"Look, about what happened….."

"Forget it."

"Buffy….."

"Just forget it. It's over."

"What?"

"It's over and done with. Can't go back and change it."

"It didn't work."

"What didn't?"

"Clearing the air. It didn't work."

"Yeah. It was worth a shot."

"I know you're having a lot more trouble at keeping this anger at bay than I am. Buffy, I've been keeping a demon at bay for almost 200 years. I can help you."

"Well, I haven't. I don't have a demon. So, yeah, it's hard for me, but I'll manage."

"Will you just stop?"

"I have work to get to."

Angel reached out and grabbed her arm harshly. "You're not going to walk away from me again." He hauled her to him and she tried to get away, but his grip tightened. "The Powers aren't going to win this, but if you keep acting like a spoiled little brat, you're handing the world over to them on a silver platter."

Buffy stared at him a minute and then yanked away and walked out of the apartment. She headed downstairs and over to Spike. "Hey there, luv." Spike looked at her and the bandage on her neck. "What…." Then he saw the bruises. "What the hell happened?"

"Oh…. Angel and I decided to try to clear the air. Work out our issues."

"This looks like more than just issues." Buffy snorted. "You want me to kill him for you? Cause I will."

"No. If anyone gets to kill him, it's gonna be me." Buffy sighed. "Have they found anything yet?"

"Nothing but the same."

Buffy thought about that for a few minutes. "This guy….. Why would the Powers want to get rid of all the information about him except those few tid bits?"

"It's like Connor said….."

"No, I know what he said. And I thought he was on to something, but now….." Buffy trailed off as her thoughts consumed her.

"What?"

"What is that really is all there is about this race?"

"Still not following you, ducks."

"What if he really was extinct?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what if the Powers brought him back somehow, just for this?"

Spike thought about that a moment as he started to catch on to what Buffy was saying. "Yeah?" 

"Well, if Willow can make a counter spell…. Maybe we can send him packing back to the place where he belongs."

"The Powers don't use magick."

"Why not?"

"Because they ARE the magick."

"No. No, if they were….. Willow wouldn't be this powerful. They could easily take it away if they were." Spike stared at her for a moment. "Yeah. I think by trying so hard to cover up their weaknesses, their laying them out on the table." Buffy stood. "Willow."

"Yeah?" Willow looked up from the computer.

"What do you know about spells to send people or things back to past?"

"Why?"

"Buffy's got a theory." Spike said.

"Nargul….. I think he really was extinct, but the Powers brought him back."

"Why would they do that?" Xander asked.

"Yeah. They have plenty of demons roaming the world." Connor said.

"Because they knew we'd dwell on the details, just like we're doing now, and it would be just long enough for him to kill us."

"Damn, B, you're getting good at this." Faith said.

"So, all you'd have to do Red, is come up with a counter spell and send Steel-Hide back to his past." Spike said.

"It might take some time." Willow said.

"Then get on it." Buffy said. "Clock's a-tickin."

* * *

Angel stood in the hallway, just beyond the stairs, listening to everything Buffy had to say. At that moment, he had felt such overwhelming pride for her that a dark purple, almost black haze surrounded him, formed a ball in front of him, and disappeared. He realized that he wasn't angry at her anymore. Just as he started down the stairs, everyone else in the room went through the same thing.

"What was that?" Xander asked.

"That was a spell being broken." Angel said. "And the Powers realizing that we're not as insignificant as they thought we were."

"But why did the spell break?" Connor asked.

"Because we all banded together and felt like we could accomplish something. When Buffy figured everything out, everyone one of us felt pride in what we do and who we are and in who everyone else is…. And I guess that was the key to breaking the spell."

"Well thank God, because I really didn't want to rip anyone's head off." Faith said.

"Yeah." Buffy said, not looking at Angel. She was still ashamed at what they had done earlier. "Let's get to work."

* * *

"Buffy, I gotta get to a magick store. I don't have enough supplies." Willow said.

"Ok, we'll go out together. Angel, Spike …. You guys come with." Buffy said. "Load up. We'll need some pretty hefty weapons."

"What if Nargul shows up?" Connor asked.

"That's why you and Faith are staying here."

"No…. I mean, what if he shows up while you're out there?"

"That's what the weapons are for."

"The last time you faced him in a fight, he almost killed you."

"I've got Angel and Spike."

"Mom….."

"Connor, I'll be fine. Don't worry." Buffy kissed his forehead. "We'll be back soon. If anything goes wrong, we'll call. You guys are safe in here. The sanctuary spell won't give." Connor just nodded. "Faith, lock the doors. We're going down into the sewers."

"You got it, B." Faith said.

Down in the sewers, Buffy and Angel led the way while Willow walked behind them and Spike brought up the rear. They moved carefully, guiding Willow who couldn't see in the dark. They had refused to bring flashlights because it might cause them to get spotted if Nargul's lackeys were down in the sewers waiting.

After nine blocks, they decided it was safe to go up to the street. Angel and Spike helped the women up and then followed. They were in a deserted alley. "Ok, so where are we?"

"About twelve miles from the nearest magick shop." Angel said.

"We're going to walk twelve miles?"

"No."

"Then how are we going to get there?" Spike asked. "The car's back at the Hyperion."

"Just trust me." Angel went over to a large metal door and lifted it. Inside sat the Camaro that Buffy had loved so much from Wolfram and Hart.

"What….. You stole it?" Buffy asked.

"In case of emergencies." Angel said, going over to the wall and pulling out a brick. He took the keys from their hiding spot and replaced the brick. "Everybody hop in." No one moved. "What?"

"It's just…." Willow started.

"What if the Senior Partners have this thing traced like everything else?" Buffy asked. "That would add more trouble to our already long list."

"Do you want to walk twelve miles there and twelve miles back?"

The three looked at each other and then Buffy said, "Shotgun." And they all hopped in.

* * *

"They've been gone way too long." Connor said, pacing the lobby. "Somebody should go find them."

"Chill out, Buffy-Jr." Faith said. "They've only been gone an hour."

"And that's too long. Something must've happened. They must have been….."

"Stuck in line for twenty minutes?" Willow asked as they walked up from the basement carrying four bags of witchy stuff.

"Willow decided to shop a little and then we had to wait for the old man to do eight different price checks." Spike said. "Next time, Red? In, grab what we need, out again."

"That would be stealing." Buffy said.

"Not like the store had alarms or anything."

"That you know of. Could've had mystical alarms."

"Huh. Didn't think of that."

"You always were simple minded." Angel said, setting the bags on the counter.

"Any action while we were gone?" Buffy asked.

"You've got a brand new rut in the floor courtesy of the pacing in circles your son has been doing since you left." Xander said.

"Sorry." Connor said. "I was just worried."

"That's good that you worry." Buffy said, patting his arm. "Shows that you care."

"Did you get everything?" Faith asked.

"Yup." Willow started going through the bags. "It'll take me about ten minutes to set everything up and get ready."

"I think we'll be ok." Dawn said. Just then, the lights went out and a green-ish blue crackling light moved over the entire place. "Uh oh."

"This is your fault for saying that." Buffy said to Dawn.

"I guess the sanctuary spell is gone." Willow said.

"Get to work. Go to the bathroom and lock the door." Buffy rushed Willow towards the bathroom. "Just get that spell done. Hurry." Willow ran in with her supplies and locked the door.

"Buffy!" Faith called. The demons and vamps were pouring in from every exit.

"Hold them off." Buffy called. "Don't let them near the stairs."

"What?"

"Just do it."

"Uh…. Ok."

Angel fought next to Buffy. "Good plan."

"What?" Buffy asked, kicking a demon away from the weapons cabinet.

"The stairs."

"Cause that's where we don't want them to go."

"I got ya."

Taking out her scythe, Buffy started hacking away at the demons and vampires. She looked up just in time to see Nargul come strolling in through the garden doors. "This is a nice place you've got yourselves." He said. "I've never seen the inside of it."

"Well, I can promise you it'll be the last thing you see." Buffy said, heading towards him.

"Such promises. I remember our last fight."

"You didn't give me a chance to fight my way." Buffy stabbed a vampire with the wooden end of her scythe and beheaded a demon with the blade.

"I've seen your way."

"Not all of it."

"I can surely tell you that nothing you do can surprise me." Nargul came down the steps and kicked the settee towards Buffy.

The Slayer dodged out of the way and came up next to Illyria. "Do you need help with this one?" Illyria asked as she ripped the head off of a demon.

"Not right now." Buffy said. "If it starts getting bad, I'll let you know."

"Very well." Illyria went back to fighting the demons and vampires around her.

Buffy walked to the middle of the lobby and met Nargul head on. It was a brutal fight. Every now and then she would pull out moves that she hadn't used in a while and it would manage to get her in a few good punches and kicks, but for the most part, he knew her fighting style and was able to block her moves. Once again, he managed to get her into the throat lock and lifted her off the ground. Illyria started to come to Buffy's aid, but Buffy waved her off. With an impressive show of strength, Buffy managed to break Nargul's wrist and he dropped her to the floor with a scream.

"How?" He hissed. "You couldn't before."

"I'm the Slayer, dumb ass." Buffy kicked him in the chin and discovered that it was soft. Nargul gagged and grabbed his throat. "Found your weak spot."

"It will not happen again." Nargul came at her, but something stopped him. "What…." He began to glow. "What's happening?"

"Time for you to go back where you came from."

"It's not possible! You lied to me!" Suddenly, Nargul exploded in a dark light show and then he was gone. The demons and vampires that had followed him started to look worried as the others started to defeat them. A few of them ran, but the others got slaughtered by Buffy's family.

Xander walked up to Buffy. "Nice moves."

"You too." She smiled and hugged him.

"Man, what are we going to do with these bodies?" Faith asked. The dead demons shimmered and disappeared. "I guess that always works."

"You're welcome." Willow said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Good job." Buffy said.

"What'd I miss?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now I could go for a French Toast Slam at Dennys."

"I'm in."

"I'm a manly man. Your French Toast Slam is nothing compared to the Lumberjack Slam." Xander said. "Let's boogy."

"Do manly lumberjack men say 'let's boogy?'" Spike asked.

"This one does."

"What are we waiting for?" Dawn asked.

"Dad to grab some money, cause it's all on him." Connor said.

"Says who?" Angel asked.

"Says all of us." Faith said.

"Ugh! Fine." The others headed out the door and Angel looked at Buffy. "You ok?"

She looked at him for a moment. "Yeah. Nothing a little TLC can't cure."

"I'd like to be the one to provide that TLC if it's ok with you."

She smiled. "I'd like that." He held out his hand and she took it. They walked out the door together and flipped off the lights.


	10. Two Surprises and A Demon

Chapter 10

Angel escorted Buffy out of the extremely fancy restaurant like a gentleman and held open the door to the car. She got in and he shut the door, heading over to his side and getting in. "God, this is the first normal date we've been on in…. well, I can't remember the last normal date we've been on." Buffy said.

"Well, it's been three weeks and there's been no sign of the Powers retaliating." Angel said. "We deserve a night out."

"As opposed to all the other nights out?" Angel just looked at her. "All I'm saying is that it's unnerving. I don't trust the quiet."

"It hasn't been all that quiet. We've slayed a few demons and vamps."

"Yeah, a few. That's not even normal. There should be a lot or a crap load, but not a few."

"I understand that you're nervous, but Buffy, if there's anything the last couple of years has taught me, it's to enjoy the time you've got while you've got it."

"And there's no problem with time for either of us."

"There is, Buffy. You don't know whether or not we'll make it to the next minute."

"Don't get me wrong. I've really enjoyed tonight….. and last night, and the night before that, and the night before that…. And every other night we've been out on the town. But don't you think we're not being cautious enough?"

"We've got Connor for that. The kid's been on edge even before all of this started."

"Don't make fun. He's just as worried as I am."

"And you think I'm not?'

"Well, you're acting all woopie about the downtime."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Train. Be prepared for whatever the Powers throw at us next. The next demon could be worse than Nargul."

"Sometimes, the best way to prepare yourself is to relax and enjoy life."

Buffy sighed. "Am I going to win this or not?"

"That would be not."

"I'm just happy that it's this kind of arguing and not the kind where we almost rip the other's head off." Buffy looked at Angel. "And that's what this is about, isn't it? You're trying to make up for that round of Sex a la Violence, aren't you?"

"A little." He glanced at her. "Is it working?"

"Well, I'm over it. But you don't have to stop spoiling me."

"Trust me," Angel kissed her knuckles. "That will never happen."

* * *

The next morning, Willow, Xander, and Dawn were moping around the office. It seemed like none of them had gotten any sleep the night before and they were all slacking because of it. "It's the Powers." Xander said. "They're depriving us of sleep."

"Probably." Willow said. "They're going to kill us by exhausting us to death."

"I still think it's the fact that we've had to listen to Buffy and Angel go at it night after night and now Spike and Faith have started up again." Dawn said.

"What's with that anyway?" Xander asked. "I mean, Spike and Faith are back and Buffy and Angel are acting like the world's about to end by shagging each other's brains out."

"Well, the world is about to end."

"Doesn't seem like it. It's been extra quiet for too long." Dawn and Willow stared at Xander. "Ok, I get your point."

Buffy and Angel came down the stairs, all smiles and hand-holding. "Good morning everyone!" Buffy said cheerily. Willow, Xander, and Dawn groaned. "What's up with you guys?"

"The same thing that's up with you." Dawn said.

"Well then why aren't you….. Oh. You mean….. Yeah."

"Sorry." Angel said. "Where's Faith and Spike?"

"Still upstairs." Xander said. "Where's Connor?"

"Sleeping in." Buffy said, pouring a cup of coffee.

Illyria walked in and looked at everyone. "Why do I sense bitterness? I thought the spell that had you all scorning at each other was transgressed."

"It is. They're just jealous they're not getting any." Buffy said.

"Getting any what?"

"Sex." Angel said. "Lots and lots of sex."

"I thought this 'sex' was a good thing that mortals like to enjoy often."

"It's not when you're not the one getting any and you have to listen to everyone else around you going at it like jack-rabbits." Xander said.

"Did you all ever think that this is the Powers?" Willow asked.

"What, the sex?" Buffy asked.

"Could you stop giving us visuals?" Dawn asked.

"All I'm saying is that maybe this is like that time with you and Riley, only it's the Powers sending all that crazy energy your way instead of sexually repressed poltergeists." Willow said.

"Nah." Buffy said. "We acted like this before Wolfram and Hart and Jasmine and all that happened. We're just making up for lost time."

"Well, kiddies, it's time to button down and get back to business." Lorne said from the stairs. "Cause hells about to start singing again."

"Lorne!" Buffy said, rushing up to hug him. "It's so good to see you. I thought you weren't ever coming back."

"Lord, I wish I hadn't, Blondie, but unfortunately it's a business call that I can't just ignore."

"What's wrong?"

* * *

Everyone was downstairs sitting around the lobby. Lorne sat on the couch and told them what was going on. "The other day, I was sitting in San Diego at some karaoke bar drowning my sorrows in my usual Sea Breeze when this guy gets up on stage and starts butchering Christina Aguilara's 'Beautiful.' I started to get up and walk out, but the second I looked at him I saw extreme death and mayhem. And this poor guy doesn't even have a clue what's coming."

"What?" Angel asked.

"There's a demon inside of him, hiding out until it's called upon by whoever calls it. And this demon is nasty kids. Full on scary, scaly, horned, and hooven feet. It makes the Beast look like a doe-eyed puppy dog."

"The guy doesn't know that he's a demon?" Connor asked.

"He's not a demon. He's a human whose body has been created for as a vessel for a demon. When papa bear picks up the phone, this poor guy gets torn away…. and I mean that literally…. and the next apocalypse comes a knockin'."

"Where is this guy now?" Buffy asked.

"No clue, but I know his name is Thomas Grady and he's leaving San Diego sometime soon. I couldn't tell you to where."

"Well, that's a start. Willow….."

Willow started for the computer. "Already on it."

"This thing is big, guys. It could be this season's next big bad." Lorne said.

"No, we already have one of those. This is just another curve ball they're throwing at us." Buffy said.

"What do you mean, kitten?"

"Turns out the Powers That Be are the Powers That Aren't-On-Our-Side. They gave everything they knew on us to this demon so he could destroy us all one by one. Even revealed themselves to me courtesy of my reflection and told me that we're all insignificant."

"Is it just me, or does every fall start off with an even more hopeless evil that's going to torment the heroes until the summer comes?"

"You're not wrong there."

"Got it!" Willow called. "Thomas Grady lives in San Diego at 5962 South Hyde Street. I managed to hack into his credit card bills and he bought a plane ticket to LA two months ago. The plane arrives at 2pm tomorrow afternoon."

"Then I guess we'll just have to meet him there." Faith said.

"Is there a picture?" Buffy asked.

"No." Willow said. "Sorry."

Buffy looked at Lorne. "Still got that long over coat and hat for the incognito jobs?"

"Listen, sugarplum, I'm not in this game anymore." Lorne said. "I just came to warn you guys."

"You're the only one that knows what he looks like." Angel said.

* * *

Lorne stood next to Buffy at the airport with Angel on her other side. They stared at the passengers coming out of the gate entrance and waited for Tom. "Do you see him yet?" Angel asked.

"Not yet." Lorne answered.

"Maybe we missed him." Buffy said.

"I doubt it." Angel said. "We're here a little early, but….." A scream followed by a loud roar came from the security counter and they looked over to see a huge demon about seven or eight feet tall with black skin and four very large horns sticking out the top of his head. He had feet like hooves and hands that had fingers that were too long and ended in wicked looking talons.

"I don't think we missed Tom at all." Buffy started running over to the security counter, jumping over luggage and barricades with Angel not far behind. They hadn't brought any weapons in because they knew security would be tight and they didn't really have time to get thrown in jail. They had to dodge people running away from the demon, which made it harder to get there quickly.

By the time Buffy reached the demon, he had already torn the head from some innocent bystander's shoulders. She threw herself into the air and slammed against the demon's chest, but instead of knocking him back, she dislocated her shoulder and fell to the ground. Angel came running up and instead of throwing himself at the demon, he stopped and pulled back his arm to punch it. The demon saw it coming and grabbed Angel's fist, hauled him into the air by his arm, and flung him through the wall behind him.

The people had cleared out and the security team had recovered enough to start shooting their guns at it. Unfortunately, the bullets just ricocheted off and hit the guards or lodged into walls. Buffy recovered enough to stand and kick the demon, but the skin was so hard that she went flying back on her butt. The demon, having had enough of the onslaught, turned and ran.

Buffy got up and started to run after it, but Angel grabbed her good arm. "Don't. We'll find it later."

"But….."

"It'll show up again. Trust me."

"I meant that it's going to kill more people."

"That get in its way. I doubt that will happen." A crash came from outside followed by more squealing brakes. "But the hospitals will be full." He looked at her. "Is your arm ok?"

"Dislodged, but I'll live. Let's just get back to the Hyperion and get it back into place." Buffy started to head back to Lorne. "We'll let the others know that Tom's left the building and this demon is here to stay."

"Are you guys ok?" Lorne asked.

"We're fine." Angel said. "Let's go."

* * *

Buffy let out a yelp as Angel yanked her shoulder back into place. After a moment, she groaned and started to rotate her arm. "Better?" Angel asked.

"Getting there." Buffy said.

"So, this demon's been summoned?" Connor asked.

"It just happened too. Don't know how we could've missed it, but we did."

"It probably…. Tore through before you got there." Willow said.

"No. It just happened. There were screams and then roars and then mayhem." Buffy sat down on the counter. "Angel, can you make a sketch of what that thing looks like? Willow and I'll sit down on the Demon Database and see if we can find it in there."

"I don't know if you'll be able to find it in your reference books." Lorne said. "This isn't exactly a species."

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"These types of demons…. They're never the same. They're always one of a kind and each was designed for whatever purpose it was created for."

"Fail safe." Angel said.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"You remember the fail safe that Wolfram and Hart built to get rid of us if we got too much to handle?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe this is the Powers' fail safe."

"But why now?"

"Because we've gotten more powerful. I guess they thought Nargul could take us down, but when that didn't work…. They created this new demon."

"You don't understand." Lorne said. "These demons are started from the human's beginning. So if this is a fail safe, the Powers must have seen that this would happen a long, long time ago. Tom wasn't exactly what you would call a youngster."

"How old was he?" Buffy asked.

"He was 53." Willow said. "His birth record says that he was born in 1951."

"Maybe he wasn't a fail safe for us then."

"I don't know." Angel said. "This is just….."

"Frustratingly confusing?" Angel nodded. Buffy huffed and plopped down on the settee. "I don't know where to go from here. If he wasn't made for us, then who was he made for? If the Powers made this thing so strong and practically indestructible, why wouldn't it be for us?"

"Because it was made for me." A slightly British, slightly French voice said. They all looked up to see a man who looked about 25 years old with medium length, curly brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a tan that looked natural. He was handsome, that was for sure.

"Who are you?"

"Forgive me. My name is Shy Makinse. And you must be the lovely Slayer I've heard about. Miss Summers, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's Mrs." Buffy said, not holding out her hand to shake his.

He pulled his hand back and looked at her. "Yes, well, I understand your misgivings, what with me barging in and all, but I feared this day would come."

"What day?" Angel asked.

"The day I came to you all for help."


	11. Shy Guy

Chapter 11

"You see, I've known about you lot for quite some time now and for the past few months I've been searching for your exact whereabouts to come and seek your help." Shy said.

"That still doesn't answer our question." Buffy said.

"Which one?"

"The one where you explain to us who you are and why you've come here."

"As I've said my name is…."

"We know you're name."

"Then I am most confused as to what you are asking."

"Let's try: What are you?"

"I am…. How shall I put this?…. I am a human, mostly, only I've been enhanced."

"Enhanced how?"

"Well, I'm like you in a way: more than human. I'm part demon."

"First of all, Shy, we're sort of wary about anybody that comes through that door that we don't know. Second of all, we don't trust random demons, even if they are half human."

"Don't get me wrong, please. I am not evil. I am truly on your side."

"Then you won't mind singing for us." Angel said.

"Excuse me?"

"Sing."

"It's so Lorne here can read you." Xander said, clapping Lorne on the shoulder. "You sing, he reads, then we decide whether or not to unleash our resident Slayers on you or we let you continue with your story."

"Very well." Shy began to hum.

Buffy stared at Lorne expectantly. "He's clean, but I don't like what he's here to tell us." Lorne said. "Or rather, what he's here to tell you."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Well…. You gonna tell them why that thing is after you?"

They all stared at Shy. "I'm the balance." He said.

"You're the what?" Faith asked.

"The balance."

"You're going to have to do better than that." Spike said.

"I've been on this world since the Old Ones."

"The first demons." Buffy said.

"Yes. I was the warrior that shoved the last demon out of this dimension. Unfortunately, its essence merged with mine and I became inhuman. I wandered the Earth, unsure of my place. I had all of this power inside of me and no idea how to wield it. I went to every witch doctor, witch, and warlock I could find, but they all turned me away. All of them said the power I harbored inside of me was pure, unmanifested evil. I knew that much, but I also knew that I wasn't evil. After being turned away from everyone I went to, I decided to hide away in a remote location and learn everything I could about the powers inside of me." Shy paused.

"Then what?"

"I found myself in what is now called Africa, bearing witness to the most vile of acts." Shy looked directly at Buffy and Faith. "The making of the first Slayer."

"Hey, dude, we're not vile." Faith said.

"I didn't mean you, yourselves. I meant the way they had this poor girl tied down and a demon's essence was being forced upon her in an act of rape by three men."

"The shadow men." Dawn said.

"I felt this…. Rage build within me and something snapped. When I woke up, the three men were dead and the girl was helping me to my feet. She thanked me over and over and I remember wondering how it was that I understood her when I didn't speak her language. I asked her what had happened and she explained that something had shot out of my hands and engulfed the three men, then they were dead and I had collapsed to the ground." Shy sighed. "The girl took me back to her village and explained to her people what had happened. They took me in and thanked me, welcoming me to their tribe. I studied with their witches and wise men, learning all I could about how they wielded their powers. I also found myself watching over the girl and over the course of the next year, the girl discovered her immense strength and agility. Vampires and minor demons now roamed the Earth and started to terrorize the people of the surrounding villages. The girl found a reason to use the powers that had been given to her. She became the protector. The Slayer. One night, I went out to take a walk and discovered the girl fighting for her life against a vampire. The vampire bit into her neck and drained her blood before my very eyes and then ran. I went to the girl just as the demon's essence came spilling out of her. I felt myself raging again and I swore that all vampires would pay for what they had done to this girl. I swore that she would live on and have her vengeance on vampires and demons alike."

"You created the Slayer line?" Buffy asked.

"Unintentionally, yes. I didn't know it though. I found myself running away again, this time heading into the deepest jungle to escape all humans and demons alike. I learned to utilize my powers and when I finally had them under control, learned everything I could about them and how to use them at will, I went back out into the world."

"But the world wasn't what it used to be, was it?" Spike asked.

"No. People had changed. The world had evolved."

"How long were you gone?" Willow asked.

"A thousand years, give or take a few. When I came out of hiding, I found myself wandering through a civilized world. I traveled all over, searching for someone I had once known, but there was no one. I stopped wandering in France and discovered the year was 1826. I was astonished. The demon's essence had made me immortal."

"When did you find out about the Slayer line?" Dawn asked.

"That very same year. There was a Slayer in France at that time. To make a long story short, I discovered that my vow of vengeance had merged itself with my immortal essence and the Slayer line was created."

"Look ducks, it's your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great, well you get the point, granddaddy." Spike said. "Metaphorically."

"So, why are the Powers after you again?" Angel asked.

"Because as long as I am alive, the Slayer line is alive." Shy said. "It's connected to me."

"And you're indestructible?" Willow asked.

"Supposed to be. I haven't met a demon or man-made invention that has been able to kill me yet."

"That's why this demon is so powerful." Buffy said. "That's why it's taken 53 years to unleash it."

"Yes."

"And you came here looking for protection?"

"I came here to help you learn about who you are and help you stop this demon. You are the only one who can do it. You are the Slayer."

"What about Faith?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, what about Faith?" Faith asked. "And the other Slayers for that matter?"

"Because Buffy is THE Slayer. Without her, none of you would be here. She has the power inside of her." Shy turned and looked at Buffy. "She just needs to learn how to use it."

"I know how to use it." Buffy said.

"Not against this demon. You're powers…. They are equal to mine, but without me, you're only able to tap into part of them. With me here, and the scythe, I can help you finish the war between good and evil. I can bring you the peace you have so long desired."

* * *

"So, do you believe him?" Angel asked. He and Buffy were out patrolling the streets of LA looking for the fail safe demon. Shy had taken up residence in one of the extra rooms they had set up for Slayers and Lorne was talking to the Furies to see about getting a stronger protection spell when Buffy and Angel had left.

"Yeah. No. Maybe. I don't know." Buffy said.

"Well, you can either believe him, or you can send him packing. I vote the latter because it just seems so logical to me."

"Well, it's not up to you, is it?" Angel looked at her, hurt apparent in his eyes. "Look, Angel, there's something about him. Something that I can't explain."

"Yeah, it's called being a damn good liar."

"No. When he's in the same room, it's like…. It's like when I hold the scythe and I feel the essence, the power that it carries…. I think he's telling the truth."

"You need to talk to Lorne. See what he saw."

"I've already talked to him."

"When?"

"While everyone was going about their business, I pulled him aside. He told me what he saw."

"What?"

"He saw everything that Shy said. And he saw a world full of peace."

"This world will never be peaceful."

"Stop being so cynical."

"Well, can you blame me? Some handsome guy comes swooping in telling these stories about being merged and creating the Slayer line and….."

"You think he's handsome?" Angel just looked at her, slowing his pace slightly. Buffy stopped and walked back to him, placing her hand on his cheek. "Angel, you're the one I have eyes for. The only thing I feel for Shy is perplexed…. And possibly some nausea."

"Why nausea?"

"I don't know. Maybe his cologne was on too thick." Buffy started walking again and Angel dropped into step with her.

After a moment of silence, Angel stopped again and looked at Buffy. "Do you think….." He stopped, not sure if he should go any further.

Buffy turned and looked at him. "I generally try not to think cause it can get you killed, but just this once."

"Do you think that if it's true…. That this Shy person can really bring peace…. Do you think that…."

"I think anything is possible." Buffy said, not letting him finish. She knew what he was asking. "Just because you signed an ancient scroll in blood, your blood for that matter, doesn't always mean that it's not going to come true."

"But….."

"The Powers couldn't have created that prophecy."

"Why do you think that?"

"Again with the thinking." Buffy smiled. "Angel, I know they didn't because they wouldn't give us that much of hope. That much hope is too dangerous because it puts the power right into our hands."

"How do you know that?"

"Because the Archduke Sebassis was right. There's only one thing more powerful than loyalty and greed and all of that good stuff….. And that's hope. Hope for something better, something more…. That's the reason we're still alive and, most of the time, kicking. We hope for a better future." Angel smiled at her as she turned back around and started walking again. She was right. Maybe, just maybe, he could still shanshu. "Well, it's two in the morning. I say we pack it in for the night. This demon's not coming out of it's hiding place anytime soon."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I'm tired and I want to get some sleep."

"All right. We'll talk to Shy in the morning. See what we can come up with."

"Good plan. Let's go."

Angel grabbed her arm as she started to walk by and she stared at him in confusion. He leaned down and kissed her softly, loving the feel of her lips against his. Slipping his arm around her waist, they made their way back to the Hyperion.

* * *

"So, you guys didn't find anything last night?" Faith asked, biting down on the banana she was eating for breakfast. They were all gathered at a table brought into the lobby from the old ballroom for a nice breakfast. Shy was apparently still in his room asleep.

"Nothing. Not even the slightest peep from a vampire." Buffy said.

"That's unusual." Spike said.

"Tell me about it. Angel and I hunted until four this morning."

"Still don't see how you two are awake." Dawn said. "You've got to be dragging."

"Nah. You know us, light sleepers."

"Well, maybe something will turn up on the news." Connor said.

"I don't think so." Angel said. "Something would have turned up by now."

"Other than the ransacking of the airport security?" Lorne asked.

"Has anybody watched the news this morning?" Willow asked. When no one answered, she stood up and headed behind the reception counter.

"What're you doing?" Buffy asked.

Willow set the little TV set on the counter and plugged it in. "Watching the morning news." She turned on the TV and changed it to the news station.

"Three people are dead and one is in critical condition this morning due to a fatal car crash in downtown Hollywood. Eyewitnesses report that a….." The newsman looked down at his paper and shook his head. "That a 'very tall, black, horned, hooved thing' slammed its fist down on the car, sending the car and its passengers 'flipping over the thing's head and slamming to the ground upside down behind it.' The survivor of the crash is currently at the Cedars Sinai ICU. The police are still at the investigating at the crime scene this morning. In other news…." Willow shut the TV off.

"See, Will, you've gotta learn to let the TiVO get it." Xander said. "Cause now our breakfast is ruined."

"Sorry." Willow said.

"No, it's ok. We were gonna find out sooner or later. Better sooner than later, right?" Buffy said, setting her napkin down. "I guess it's time for us to head into action."

"Isn't it a little early for that?" Xander asked.

"Not for us. We're the band of superheroes that continually saves the world."

"Yeah. Forgot about that. You know, Mr. Incredible was right. Why can't the world just stay saved for ten minutes? We just saved it!" They all stared at him. "You know, the movie…. _The Incredibles_? The Disney movie about the…. Never mind. Go on and save the world. I'll stay here at the bat cave and play poker with Spike."

"Hey, you still owe me money." Spike said.

"All right, Faith, Willow, and Connor, you're with me and Angel." Buffy said. "Dawn, I know you hate it, but…."

"I'll stay here and play poker with these two." Dawn said.

"Make that three." Lorne said.

"Ok. We're set." Buffy started to walk out, but stopped. "Uh…. Illyria and Shy…."

"Old Blue can play poker with us." Spike said. "She's getting pretty good at it."

"I owe her money too." Xander said.

"What about Shy?" Dawn asked.

"What about him?" They all turned to see Shy standing at the top of the stairs. "You're not planning on going out and fighting that thing without me, are you?"

"Actually, we were." Buffy said. "He's after you, so…."

"All the more reason I should go out there with you. He was created for me, and I shall be the one to destroy him."

"No, I shall be…. I'll be the one to take him out. You came to us for help, so we're helping."

"I came to you to help you too. The Powers aren't just out to destroy you. They've got a vendetta against anything that can help you out. The more we band together, the less likely they are to win."

Buffy sighed. "Fine. But you stay back and let us super-beings do the fighting. Willow can cover us with magick."

"As can I."

"As long as you stay back." Buffy opened the doors and they headed out.


	12. Big Bad Revalation

Chapter 12 

Buffy and the others stood behind the yellow police tape staring at the smashed remains of the black BMW. They were just hauling it upright and onto a tow truck. The front was dented downward. That must be where the demon had hit it. The top of the car was almost completely flat. Buffy glanced at Angel. He looked back at her and nodded his head to the right, away from everyone else. Buffy followed him over to the other side of the street, away from Connor, Faith, Willow, and Shy.

"Do you think that….." Angel started at the same time Buffy said, "I have a feeling…."

"You first." Angel said. "You're the boss."

"I have a feeling that magick isn't going to help us here."

"I was just going to ask you that."

"Isn't it funny how our minds think so alike?" Buffy looked over at Shy. "This thing, if it really was created for him, wouldn't it be impervious to magick? He's got some serious mojo working for him if he can create the Slayer line by accident."

"How are we going to stop this thing?"

"I don't know. You saw what happened to me. I threw everything I have at it and the thing didn't even budge. Even the Beast budged."

"What's going on?" Faith asked, walking over with Connor and Willow. Shy was still standing by the police tape. "What're we talking about?"

"How this situation is looking to be on the wrong side of hopeful street." Buffy said, glancing at the wreckage. "How are we going to find this thing?"

"The old fashioned way." Faith said. She looked at Connor. "Get to sniffin', boy wonder."

"There's no scent." Connor said.

"He's right. We can't track this thing with no scent." Angel said.

"How is there no scent?" Willoe asked. "Everything has a smell."

"Not this thing." Connor argued. "If there was, do you think I'd still be standing here?" Willow shrugged.

"Well, I'll say one thing, standing around here isn't doing us any good." Buffy said.

"Maybe we should head back to the hotel and try to locate this demon through the news reports." Faith said. "This thing isn't going to just stop with destroying cars."

"Faith, take Willow, Shy, and Connor back to the hotel and do that. Angel and I'll stay out here and try to locate this demon."

"How? You can't smell it, remember?"

"We have our ways." Angel said, handing Faith the keys to the car.

"Fine." Faith turned. "Yo, Shy-guy! Let's roll."

"Where?" Shy asked, coming over to them.

"Back to the hotel. We're gonna track the demon from there."

"What about…."

"They have their own ways out here. Come on." Faith pulled Shy towards the car.

"I should be with them. I can track this thing better than they can."

"No, you can't. Come on." Willow said.

"Later." Connor said, following Faith reluctantly.

"All, right." Buffy said, turning to Angel after they were gone. "Let's go beat up some snitches."

* * *

"What is 'their way'?" Shy asked, pacing back and forth. "I don't see why I couldn't go with them. They're just wasting their time. They'll never find it."

"Calm down, Shy." Dawn said.

"Yeah. Those two pull this sort of stuff all the time. The Slayer knows what she's doin', so let her do her job." Spike said, leaning back on the settee and stretching out like a cat.

"I don't care if she thinks she knows what she's doing." Shy said. "I should be out there with them."

"If I were you, I'd lay back and let Mr. and Mrs. Incredible take care of your problem."

"See, someone else's seen it." Xander mumbled.

"You don't understand." Shy said. "They're not strong enough."

"And you are?" Connor asked.

"What?"

"If this thing was meant to kill you, wouldn't that make it stronger than you?"

"He's right." Faith said. "How could you kill it?"

"I don't want to kill it." Shy said.

"Why? If the bugger's out to kill you then…. Oh." Spike said.

"What?" Faith asked.

"I see. You buggers think you're so smart." Shy smiled at Spike. "Well, let's have then. Show em your true face."

"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked.

"There is no fail safe demon. He IS the demon." They all looked at Shy, whose eyes began to glow and his skin began to change. There was a ripping sound and at the same moment, they all realized that his clothes were ripping apart as he grew in size. "See, that's why he was so hard up to go with Buffy and Angel. He wanted to kill them and then we were next."

"But this always works." Shy growled. "Let them come home and find their friends strewn across the lobby just before they meet their end."

"But Lorne, you read him!" Dawn said, grabbing a battleaxe from behind the counter.

"I did?" Lorne asked. They glanced at Lorne to see that he was changing too.

"Shape-shifter!" Spike said, grabbing Dawn and pulling her away.

"Time to die kiddies." The shape-shifter said.

"You know," They all looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway. "You shape-shifters really piss me off."

"And I can't stand liars either." Angel said from the doorway opposite Buffy.

The fully demon Shy threw itself at Buffy and the shape-shifter reverted back to its nasty, slimy self and threw itself at Angel. Angel batted it down, leaving it for Faith and Spike. "Don't kill it yet." He ordered.

"Why not?" Faith asked, knocking the thing on the head with the edge of her sword.

"It may have done something to Lorne." With that, Angel threw himself at Shy's back.

The demon stumbled forward slightly as Angel hit the floor. His shoulder hurt like hell, but he'd live…. So to speak. Buffy grabbed her brass knuckles and slipped them on. "Those will not stop me." Shy growled.

"Yeah, but they'll hurt like hell." She punched the demon across the face and he moved to the side. "And that's always fun." She punched him a few more times before he grabbed her wrist and hauled her up.

"The end is here Slayer."

"Not yet it isn't."

Shy tossed her over his shoulder and she went flying across the counter. Spike helped her to her feet. "Need some help luv?"

"All I can get."

"Big of you to say so."

"I think so." Spike and Buffy threw themselves back over the counter and headed for Shy. They rammed into him and the demon sprawled on the floor.

"Strike!" Spike yelled. Buffy looked at him. "What?"

"Buffy!" Angel called from behind her. He was at the weapon's cabinet holding her scythe. "Catch."

Buffy caught the scythe out of the air and turned to Shy. "You end is here, Shy."

"Not this night, Slayer." And with that, Shy turned and ran out of the hotel.

Buff blinked as they stared in shock. "Uh…."

"What was that?" Spike asked, trying not to laugh.

Buffy and Angel ran out into the street, searching everywhere for Shy, but he was no where in sight. Gone. "He'll be back." Angel said. "They always come back."

"Yeah, but this guy…. Angel, he infiltrated our circle." Buffy said, her anger growing with every passing second. "And a shape-shifter? How did we not see that?"

"Buffy….."

"No! It's not ok. This is embarrassing. We look like fools! All of us." She started to storm back to the hotel. "And now he knows how gullible we are. Hey, next time, why don't we bring in one of our dead friends? Yeah, yeah. That'd make sense. Cordelia comes back from the dead to help us fight the good fight. Whoops, it's another shape-shifter that we didn't sense."

Angel grabbed Buffy's shoulders and stopped her. "Hey! What's the matter with you?"

"He was right there."

"Yeah, he duped us all."

"And we let it happen. Now he's out there, somewhere, probably watching us and waiting for the perfect time to strike, to….. to kill us all."

"We won't let him."

"Oh my God!"

"What?"

"The wards! What happened to the wards?"

"Someone must've brought them down while we weren't paying attention.

"That shape-shifter better have a lot to say or else we're…." Buffy stopped at the top of the stairs and stared at the mess. "What the….?"

"He, uh, he exploded." Xander said.

"I see that."

"We asked him where Lorne was and he said the Alliance of the Powers will come forth and we will all die horribly." Spike said. "Poncy bugger." He kicked what was left of the head lightly with the tow of his boot. "That's what they all say, but we're still standing."

"Most of us." Dawn said, glancing over at Connor who was getting up off the floor.

"What?" He asked. "I grabbed him and he went boom."

"Are you ok?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, mom. What about Shy?"

"Gone. But I have a feeling he'll be back."

"I wish we knew if Lorne was ok." Willow said.

"I do too." Buffy looked at the gooey mess and then out the door.

* * *

Angel walked out into the garden where Buffy was sitting and staring out at the street beyond. She had been beating herself up for two days over letting Shy and the Lorne-imposter into their home. "Hey."

Buffy looked over at him. "Hey."

"Having fun?"

"Nothing like watching the lights from passing cars go by."

Angel sat next to her and took her hand. "You know, it's not your fault, we all…."

"Believed both of them. I know. We've been over it. But I'm the Slayer. I should have known."

"How would you have known any more than me? Or Spike and Faith for that matter?"

"I don't know. I just feel…."

"What?"

"Like this is all my fault."

"How's that?"

"If I had just died the first time…. None of this would be happening."

"Don't talk like that."

"Why not? It's true. I'm the reason that the Powers are after us. I brought all of us together in one form or another. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be the bright, shiny, sparkling and good force of a target that we are. Now the Powers plan on raining down their best hell on us…. And we can't trust outsiders…. We're the only ones standing between good and evil."

"Just like we've always been…. Only, I guess, we didn't know it."

"And now we do."

"Which should make us try harder than ever. And we will. We'll get through this."

"And if we don't?"

"We will. We always do." Angel kissed the side of Buffy's head and stood up, heading back into the Hyperion.


	13. Welcome Home

Chapter 13 

Buffy rolled with the punch she had just received and jumped back to her feet, kicking out at the demon that had attacked her on patrol. The demon stumbled back into Angel and he spun it around, punching just as hard as it had punched Buffy. He took over the fight while Buffy leaned on the headstone behind her. She hadn't been feeling well lately and now her head spun like she was going to throw up.

"Are you all right?" Angel asked, kicking the demon back a little ways.

"Getting there." Buffy said.

"Maybe you should wait in the car."

Buffy stood up and moved in front of Angel, blocking the demon's attack. "No, I'll be ok."

"Bad Chinese, luv?" Spike asked, running up with Faith. He smirked at Buffy, knowing that the last time she had used that excuse was when she had thought she was pregnant.

"No. I haven't had any Chinese food in the last…. Seven months. Did you kill yours already?"

"Dead as a doornail." Faith said.

"Goody for you." Angel said. "This one won't die. I've snapped its neck twice already."

"Don't you know anything?" Spike asked. "That's a Motralk demon. You have to stab it in the eye."

"That's the reason it only has one?" Buffy asked.

"Cause that's the only way to kill it, yeah."

"Oh." Buffy reached down and took the knife out of the hidden holster on Spike's boot. "Can I borrow this?"

"Anytime."

Buffy took over the fight and within seconds, she had buried the knife in the demon's eye. It keeled over, dead, and she turned around to look at Spike. "And for your information, I bet it's just a cold."

"That's what Dawn thinks anyway." Angel said, taking Buffy's hand.

"Could it be something else?" Spike asked.

Buffy shook her head. "You're not funny Spike."

"What am I missing?" Angel asked.

"You're not the only one that's out of the loop, big guy." Faith said.

"It's nothing." Buffy said. "It was stupid."

"It wasn't stupid." Spike argued.

"Can we just drop it?"

"All right, but don't be surprised if I'm right."

"How could you be right?"

"It'd be a mighty big distraction."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't stop me from kicking the Powers' asses."

"If no one's going to explain what you two are talking about, could we just drop it then?" Faith asked.

"Consider it dropped." Buffy said.

"I'm not going to consider it dropped, but I'll stop talking about it for now." Spike said.

"Stubborn ass."

"One could say the same for you, ducks."

"So, how about those demons?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, what was up with the tag team?" Faith asked.

"It's probably Shy sending them after us." Buffy said.

"I don't get it. He hasn't shown his face in over a week."

"But he has sent the minions he's been gathering." Buffy sighed.

"I just wonder what he and the Powers have up their sleeves." Angel said.

"Wouldn't it be nice if they would just send us a letter detailing their plans and the best ways to stop them?"

"Be pretty damn convenient." Faith said.

"We should head back home." Angel said.

"I'm with ya. I could use a long, hot bath." Buffy said.

"You could use a doctor." Spike said.

"Drop it."

"Listen, I want to stay out a little while longer." Faith said. "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up later."

"I'll stick with the Dark Slayer here." Spike said.

"All right. Don't get killed." Angel said.

Faith held up her right hand. "On my honor." She and Spike turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Angel walked Buffy to the car and held open the door for her. He walked around and slipped into the driver's seat. "I think you're just exhausted." He said quietly.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Well, you've been working almost non-stop since Shy came to town…. I think you need some rest. Why don't you let me take over for a while."

"I'm not exhausted. I'm just…. Working myself into the ground." Buffy sighed. "I don't have any other choice. I've got an army of Slayers all over the world that I have to make sure make it to the training camp and then back to where they came from. Then I have to make sure they're ok. And then I've got the ones stationed here that always have a problem…. And where are we going? This isn't the way to the Hyperion."

"I know."

"Where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise." Buffy stared at him warily. "Just trust me. You'll love it." She sighed and leaned her head back on the seat, closing her eyes. Angel drove them to a quiet oasis on the edge of the city where a beautiful three story Victorian-style house stood behind a tall brick wall. Angel pressed a button and the iron gates in front of the house opened. "Buffy, we're here."

"We're where?" Buffy asked, opening her eyes. "What are we doing here?"

"Welcome home."

"Home? What…."

"The movers are coming tomorrow to move all the stuff from the Hyperion to here."

"I'm confused…. Why are the movers coming?"

"I bought us a house, Buffy. A nice quiet place away from the Hyperion and the hustle and bustle of the big city."

"Why?"

"Because you need to get away from all of that. You need to be able to leave work every night and come home to a place that's just ours."

"I can't believe this."

"It's got six bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a very large kitchen…." Angel parked the car in front of the house and helped Buffy slide over and get out. "Come on." He opened the front doors and allowed Buffy to walk into the parlor. "It's already got some furniture in here."

"How can we afford this?"

"I had a friend that owed me a favor. Plus it was actually a lot cheaper than it's market value."

"Oh my God. This place is huge."

"The upstairs is where the master bedroom is."

"This is amazing."

"Do you like it?"

Buffy was speechless. "Like I said, this is amazing."

"Come on. I wanna show you our bedroom. It's already got a bed in it."

"It does?" Angel led her up to the third floor and into the largest room of the house. It took up most of the third floor. On the wall opposite the door was a king sized, four-post bed with a beautiful red silk and chiffon canopy that enclosed the entire bed. "Oh my God!"

"Best thing about it is we don't have to change our sheets."

Buffy laughed. "Cause that's what we always look for in our beds."

"I figure Dawn and Connor can have the two larger rooms on the second floor and the other two down there we can turn into guest bedrooms or little offices for Connor and Dawn where they can work on homework."

"What about the sixth room?"

"That's right across the hall from us. We can turn that into a weapons room." Angel looked at Buffy and smiled. "So, what do you think?"

"I think…. Wow. And…. I think that bed is about to get some air time." Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel's neck and kissed him deeply.

* * *

"So, she liked it?" Faith asked.

"We're moving in, aren't we?" Angel said.

"What did you guys do up there all night? You didn't get home until just after sunrise." Connor said.

"We, uh, we…."

"We were deciding what should go where and who should get what room." Buffy said, walking down the stairs carrying two large suitcases. She set them down and looked at Connor. "Can you go help Dawnie get the rest?"

"Sure, mom." Connor headed upstairs.

"I can't believe that you guys are getting your own place." Willow said. She sniffled. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Ah, Will, we're not too far away." Buffy hugged her best friend.

"It's just…. We've been together for so long…."

"It was only a few months."

"I just meant that we were dorm mates and then house mates and then hotel mates…. But now…. Now you're going to be with your family all by yourself in that big old house…."

"Willow, it'll be ok. I promise. We've lived on entirely different continents before, I think we can handle a few miles in between us." Willow sniffled and Buffy hugged her again. "I promise you can come visit any time you want…. Just…. Not every night."

One of the movers came in behind them and said, "That's the last of it, right?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah. That's pretty much it." He looked at Buffy. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Buffy said.

"Wait you're leaving now?" Willow asked.

"Well, generally that's what you do when all your furniture gets moved into a different house. You follow it."

"O…. ok." Willow put on a half-hearted smile. "You guys…. Go on."

"House warming party next week, right?" Xander asked, coming in from loading the last box in the back of his car. He was helping them move in to their new house and also working on the stair banister. He had said that termites had eaten it to the point where it was almost too dangerous to use. "Health violation. No wonder you got it so cheap." He has said.

"House warming party?" Illyria asked. "Why would warm your house in this weather and then celebrate it?"

"No, it's just an expression, Big Blue." Spike said. "You're supposed to bring presents for the new house and in exchange, the people that just moved in are supposed to supply you with refreshments, drink, and food." He looked at Buffy. "Preferably a flowered onion."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I don't know guys. Let us get settled first, then we'll talk party."

"As long as there's a flowered onion."

"I'll remember to get Outback to cater." Buffy said sarcastically.

Connor and Dawn came down the stairs carrying the last of the suitcases. Pretty soon, they were headed to their new house.

* * *

Buffy and Angel plopped down on the sofa in the living room and stared at their handy work. The room looked nice, homey, and inviting. This was actually the second living room. The first one was the parlor where they would greet guests. This one was where the family would enjoy time. The entertainment center was directly across from the large, wrap-around couch. The end of the couch stopped at the side of the large fireplace. The rest of the house looked great. They had managed to get the furniture fully moved in and into place and most of the boxes had been unpacked and the contents put in their respective places.

Xander still had some work to do on the banister, but it was mostly finished. He had promised to take a look at the rest of the house and make sure it was up to code before he had headed back to the Hyperion. Dawn and Connor were upstairs working on putting their rooms together and getting them just the way the liked. Buffy and Angel had just finished their room and had decided that they could work on the weapons room tomorrow.

Just as Angel was about to turn on the TV, a scream sounded from upstairs. The two bolted up off the couch and ran up to the second floor. "Dawn!" Buffy burst into Dawn's room first.

"Oh my God! Buffy, there was a dead guy in my closet!" Dawn squealed, running into her sister's arms.

"What?"

"What's going on?" Connor asked, coming into the room. "I heard Dawn scream, but when I tried to get out of my room, the door wouldn't open. I couldn't even kick it down."

"You were trying to kick it?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. Didn't you hear me?"

"No. All we heard was Dawn screaming."

"Is he still in there, Buffy?" Dawn asked, near tears.

"I don't, honey. Just stay here, ok." Dawn nodded and watched Buffy walk over to the closet. Angel joined her and together they threw open the double doors to the walk-in closet. There was nothing. "Dawn…."

"He was in there, Buffy! I swear!" Dawn walked up behind Buffy and Angel. "He was just standing there staring at me! And he was all bloody and there was a hole in his head. He said, 'Welcome home.'"

"The Powers?" Buffy asked Angel.

"No. I don't know. Maybe." Angel said.

"I don't want to sleep in here." Dawn said.

"We can move you to a different room." Buffy said. "It'll be ok."

"No! I don't want to sleep in here alone. Please don't make me."

"Ok, Dawnie. You can sleep upstairs with me and Angel."

"Whoa, and leave me down here all by myself?" Connor said. "I don't think so."

Buffy looked at her son incredulously. "What?"

"No way am I staying here by myself with this freaky crap happening. Uh uh."

Buffy looked at Angel. "Ok, grab some pillows and blankets and get ready for bed." Angel said.

"Don't leave me." Dawn said, grabbing Buffy's hand.

"Hey, I'm not going by myself. What if I get stuck in my room again?" Connor said.

"Ok, I'll go with Connor." Angel said. "Buffy…."

"I'll stay with Dawn." Buffy said.


	14. Changing Tides

Chapter 14 

"Connor couldn't get out of his room?" Xander asked, looking at Connor's door.

"Not to mention the dead guy Dawn saw." Buffy said, watching Xander inspect Connor's door.

"I got that part, but this door is perfectly fine. It's not warped or broken in any way. He should've been able to get out fine considering his brute strength."

"I figured as much." Buffy sighed and followed Xander to the stairs. "Dawn and Connor ended up sleeping with Angel and I because they were so wigged."

"Guess that ruined your private house warming party."

"No, we've already done that." Buffy said without thinking. She looked at Xander's slightly shocked face. "Sorry."

"No. No. You had to put up with Anya's tales of our sexcapades, it's only fair."

"It's just, nothing happened that night."

"It's probably just a standard haunting, Buff." Xander noticed the look Buffy tossed him. "Not that dead guys in closets welcoming you to your house is normal."

"Gee, thanks for your input. It's so insightful."

"Once this dead guy realizes that you're here to stay, he'll probably just move on."

"I don't know. Maybe I should have Willow look into the history on this place. See if there's anything strange about it."

"She'll probably just find that some previous owner was either killed here or he committed suicide and that's the end of your story."

"And if you're wrong?"

Xander shrugged. "Then you can poke out my other eye and I'll live as a beggar on the street with a goat playfully prancing around with a hat to collect the money."

"You're a strange man, Xander."

"I try." Xander started to work on the banister as Buffy went downstairs and grabbed her purse. "I'm headed to the office. You coming?"

"Nah. I think I'll stay here and chat it up with the dead guy while I fix his banister."

"That's my banister now."

"I'll be sure to tell him that."

Buffy started to walk out the door, but another wave of nausea hit her. "Whoa." She gripped the door handle and steadied herself.

"Are you ok?" Xander asked, coming down the stairs to her side.

"Fine. I still feel a little sick, though."

"Sick how?"

"Nauseous sick. It only happens once or twice a day, though."

"How long has this been going on?"

"About a week or two."

"Think maybe it's Shy?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Maybe he put a spell or something on you when you weren't looking."

"Maybe. I better get going."

"You ok to drive?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. It's passed."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

* * *

It was now four o'clock in the afternoon and Buffy had been so busy all day that she had completely forgotten to ask Willow to dig into the history of her house. Buffy glanced down at the papers she was working on and discovered that she didn't really understand them. Her mind had been fixed on Dawn's look of terror the night before. "That's it." She muttered. She got up and headed out to the reception area. "Willow?"

"Yeah?" Willow looked over at her from the filing cabinet. For some reason, a distant memory of Cordelia turning to look at her from the same filing cabinet hit her.

She shook her head and looked again at Willow. "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

Buffy leaned on the counter and bent over far enough to glance at the computer screen. "Could you get on this thing and look up the history of my house please?"

"I guess. Why?"

"Didn't anyone tell you?"

"Let's see, I haven't talked to Angel all day because he's been busy running errands, Spike and Faith are working with Tammy and Amanda teaching them more Slayer moves, Xander's working on your house, and Dawn and Connor have been at school all day. So, no. I haven't talked to anyone today." Willow sat down at the computer and looked at Buffy.

"I think our house is haunted. Last night, Dawn swears she saw a dead guy in her closet. She said he told her 'welcome home.'"

"'Welcome home'? That's unusual. Ghosts don't usually talk directly to the living. They try, but because they're on the Ghost Roads, they can only project their image into this plane."

"Yeah, and then to make thing weirder, Connor says when he tried to get to Dawn after she screamed, he couldn't get out of his room. His door was jammed. I had Xander look at it today when he came over and he said that there was nothing wrong with the door."

"This sounds more like a poltergeist."

"Again?"

Willow smiled. "It's really simple to get rid of them. Just a few herbs and some chanting…."

"We don't know if its dangerous, though. Can you just check for me?"

"Yeah, sure. Check back with me before you leave. I'll probably have everything on your house by then."

"Ok. Thanks Will." The phone rang and Buffy picked it up. "Buffy Summers, here. Oh hey. Hold on." Buffy laid the phone down. "Can you transfer that into my office?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

* * *

Buffy sat in her living room going through the papers Willow had printed out for her on the house. A man, Brandon Clitter, was murdered in what was now Dawn's room in the early 1900s. Apparently a band of robbers broke into the house and he was trying to keep them from getting what they wanted, so they shot him in the head. But that was just the beginning. The house was definitely haunted by a poltergeist. Every owner after the murdered man claimed that they heard a voice whispering to them and a few even claimed to have seen him in the same closet Dawn had seen him in. Then, the owners were either killed or ended up crazy and roaming the streets.

"This is just great." Buffy said.

"What is?" Angel asked, walking in with a bottle of wine and two wineglasses.

"What Willow dug up on the house." Angel handed her a wineglass filled with red wine. "No thanks. I don't think it'll stay down."

"You still feeling sick?"

"A little." Angel took the papers from Buffy. "Hey."

He laid them on the coffee table, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her to his chest. "Rest."

"But the poltergeist…."

"Will still be here. Rest."

Buffy yawned. "Fine, but not because you told me to. Because I wanted to."

"Anything you say lover." Angel kissed the top of her hair and listened as her breathing slowed and she fell asleep. After a while, he began to fall asleep himself. He had thought that he had been asleep for a while when he heard the crash come from the second floor.

"What was that?" Buffy asked, bolting off the couch and already heading to the stairs.

"I don't know." Angel said, following her.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled. "Angel!"

"Mom!" Connor yelled. He saw them rush up the stairs. "I can't get in." He was pounding on Dawn's door, but the thing wasn't budging.

"On the count of three." Buffy said. "One. Two." Buffy and Connor kicked at the same time, but they were thrown across the hall.

"Are you guys all right?" Angel asked, helping them up.

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed.

"Dawnie! We can't open the door!" Buffy yelled back.

"Help me!"

"You have to open the door!"

"It won't open!"

"We need Willow." Connor said.

"I'll call her." Angel said, rushing into Connor's room and picking up the phone. "It's dead."

"What do you mean it's dead?" Buffy asked. "We had the phone turned on yesterday!" She took the phone and held it to her ear. With a sigh of desperation, Buffy reached into Angel's jeans and pulled out his cell phone. "What are the odds? This is dead too."

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed.

"Dawnie!" Buffy threw herself against the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"That's it, I'm going to get Willow." Angel said.

"I'm coming with you." Connor said.

"No, you stay here and help your mother get Dawn out."

"But…."

"No buts. Stay." Angel walked down the stairs and Buffy heard him try to open the front door. "What the…. This one won't budge either!" He called up.

"Get away!" Dawn screamed.

"Dawn? What's going on in there?" Buffy yelled through the door.

"Buffy, make him go away!"

"Dawn…." Connor called. "Do you remember that spell you did when grandma was trying to talk to us?"

"I don't have the stuff!"

"Just say the words. It should be enough to weaken the ghost guy."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Just do it Dawn. It might help!" Buffy said as Angel ran back up the stairs.

"Ok. Uh…. I cast you from this place. It is your poison and your bane. It is the skin that is cut from your flesh!" A loud groaning noise came from Dawn's room.

"Keep going Dawn!" Connor yelled over the groaning.

"Oh…. I cast you out with every prayer from every god that walked the Earth and crawled beneath. I cast you out with the strength of those who love me. I cast you out with the strength I have inside me! I cast you out into the void." The groaning died down and Dawn's door opened.

Buffy was about to go to her sister, but the extremely dead guy standing the middle of Dawn's room stopped her. He stared at her and then said, "This is my house."

"Not anymore it isn't." Buffy said.

"Get out!"

"No!"

"Get OUT!" A strong wind came from nowhere and hurled Buffy, Dawn, Connor, and Angel down the hallway and down the stairs. The front door banged open and the wind picked up even more, sending them sprawling into the front yard. "Stay away from my house." The dead guy whispered on the wind.

Buffy walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it was jammed once again. "He's locked us out!" She said angrily. She started to kick the door, but to no avail.

"We need Willow." Connor said.

"My phone's inside." Angel said.

"We'll just have to go get her."

"I'm not leaving." Buffy said. "This is my house and I'm not leaving." She started to pound on the door. "Let me in, you son of a…." The door opened and she fell inside, the door slamming behind her.

"Buffy!" Angel ran up to the door and started to pound on it, but it was suddenly gone. All the windows and doors disappeared and the house became a death trap. "Buffy!"

"What happened?" Dawn asked.

"She pissed off the ghost." Connor said. "So, who's going to go get Willow?"

Angel tossed Connor his keys. "You and Dawn go get Willow. I'll stay here and try to get Buffy out."

"You're letting me drive?"

"You're letting Connor drive?" Dawn asked. "Haven't I been scared bad enough tonight, now you've got to let him drive?"

"Go!" Angel bellowed.

* * *

Buffy suddenly found herself in the 19th century. When she had been pulled through the door and then locked in, the house began to tinkle with laughter and drinks clinging together. People appeared all around her in fancy corseted dresses and tuxes with long coattails. They didn't seem to notice her save for one. He was handsome and familiar.

"You're him." Buffy said to him. "You're the dead guy. Brandon Clitter."

"I warned you." He said. "I warned you to get out, to leave here, but you couldn't just leave it, could you?"

"It's my house."

"No."

"You're dead, dude. Time for you to let go. Move on. Get the hell out of my house."

"It doesn't matter anymore. You'll die too."

"What? No I won't." Brandon walked up the stairs and headed towards Dawn's room. "Hey! Don't walk away from me." She bounded up the stairs after him. "Hey!"

"Why are you so persistent?"

"Because you're haunting my house! What don't you get about 'you're dead, move on?' What's so hard about that?"

"No one can stay here. They're not safe."

"Because you keep kicking them out!"

"I do it to save them."

"Save them?"

Brandon stopped and stared at her for a moment. "You have power."

"Yeah, and?"

"You've been brought here for a reason."

"What are you talking about?"

The dead guy looked at the clock. It read 11:45. "We have fifteen minutes."

"Till WHAT?"

"Till they come."

"Who?"

"Follow me." The dead guy took her hand and led her into Dawn's room. He stopped in front of the closet. "I hid it from them. I had to. They would have been unstoppable if they had gotten their hands on it."

"I'm starting to sound like a broken record here. What are you talking about?"

"The Powers."

"The Powers shot you?"

"No. They sent those men after me."

"Ok. What are you hiding?"

"The key."

"My sister?"

"What? No. The key to their salvation."

"Who's salvation?"

The dead guy opened the doors and walked into the closet. He bent down and lifted up the floorboards in the corner. "It's here. Hidden from them by spells."

"Brandon, what does the key do?"

"It will release them. It will stop the Powers from destroying good."

"You knew about the Powers?"

"Yes. That's why they had me killed. How do you know about them?"

"I'm the Slayer. They've been sending really powerful demons after me to try and stop me."

"And they haven't yet?"

"Not yet."

"Then you must take this. You must take the key and free the Ancient Ones."

"The demons you mean?"

"No. You don't understand." Brandon looked at the clock. They had five minutes. "The Ancient Ones were the real Powers That Be. They were the ones on the side of good."

"What?"

"They were the ones that pushed the demons out of this world. All was peaceful for six hundred years, but then the demons banded together and created their own alliance. They destroyed the Ancient Ones' dimension and locked them away forever."

"And this key will release them."

"Yes, but unfortunately I don't know how."

"Well, how did you find the key?"

"I didn't mean to. I was trekking through Africa, trying to discover the origins of life when the earth gave way beneath me and I fell. I fell into an immense cavern and the deeper into it I went, the more…. Peaceful I felt."

"The Ancient Ones?"

"Yes. This was the entrance to their prison. I didn't get to go any farther, but I managed to find a box that contained what I learned to be the key to their prison."

"And when you got back, the Powers…. They had you killed?"

"Not immediately. I don't think they realized I'd had it for so long."

Screams came from downstairs and Buffy turned to Brandon. "How do you unlock their prison?"

"I don't know. They killed me before I could find out."

"The key? It's still in the closet?"

"Yes. That's why I'm still here. I'm guarding it."

"Brandon, you can rest now. I'll guard the key for you."

"But…."

"It's what I do. I promise you that I will do whatever I can to free the Ancient Ones."

"They still have some power in this world."

"They do?"

"Yes. They sent you to me." Brandon shoved her under the bed. "Protect it."

"I will." Buffy ducked under the bed and heard the door slam open.

"There you are Critter." A man said. "Time to die." There was a gunshot and then a thud as Brandon fell to the floor, dead.

Buffy stayed silent and closed her eyes, willing the men to go away. She opened her eyes when she heard her name being called. "Buffy?" Angel yelled.

"Mom?" Connor called.

"Buffy? Where are you?" Dawn said, rushing into her room. "Buffy!"

Buffy slid out from under the bed just as Willow, Connor, and Angel caught up with Dawn. "I'm fine."

Dawn helped her sister to her feet and hugged her tightly. "I was so worried. What happened?"

"Why were you under the bed?" Angel asked.

"Are you ok?" Willow asked.

Buffy ignored their questions and went over to the closet. She opened the doors and went to the corner where Brandon had showed her the box was hidden. "Buffy?" Angel asked. She ignored him and ripped at the carpet until the original floorboards were reveled. Pulling those up, she reached into the hole she'd made and pulled out a medium sized box.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

Buffy held the box up. "The key to our victory."

"I'm confused." Dawn said. "It's the what?"

"We're gonna win."

"What is that?" Angel asked, walking up to her.

"Brandon showed me. He told me that this is what will save this world from the Powers." Buffy looked at them. "Problem is…. He never figured out how to make it work."

"Make what work? What's in there?" Connor asked.

Buffy opened the box to reveal a glowing orb of perfect white light. Peace emanated from it and Buffy smiled as she felt hope restored in everyone in the room. "It's a key to a prison where the real Powers That Be are being held captive."


	15. Oh No Baby

Chapter 15 

"That's it." Xander said.

"What?" Buffy asked. She was sprawled on the couch at her house with her head laid on the back of the sofa. She looked like death.

Xander had come to pick her up since Angel had taken Dawn and Connor to some seminar for their school, but when he had gotten there, he had found Buffy throwing up in her bathroom upstairs. "I'm taking you to the doctor."

"No, Xand, I'm fine. Really."

"You're not fine. I know you've been good at hiding this from Angel, which still baffles me, but for some reason I keep finding you with your head in a toilet. And I know that you're not working on your imitation of a thirsty Labrador.

"It's just the flu."

"Yeah, well, the last time you had the flu, you landed in the hospital."

"Because Angel put me there."

"I'm not arguing about this anymore." Xander walked over and lifted her off the couch in his arms.

"Xander!"

"No. Just be quiet. I'm taking you to the doctor."

"I just wanna find out what Willow's learned on that key."

"It can wait. The health of our lead Slayer is more important right now."

"And what about Shy?"

"Still nothing from him."

"It's been three weeks. That can't be good."

"Buffy…." Xander slid her into the passenger's seat of his car, strapped her in, and shut the door. He got in on his side and buckled up, starting the car. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, it's the hospital for you." He looked over at her to see that she'd fallen asleep already.

* * *

"Has anybody heard from Xander and Buffy?" Angel asked. It was 11:30 in the morning and they were both supposed to have been there over two hours ago.

"No. Their cell phones are turned off." Willow said.

"Is she at the house?" Spike asked.

"I tried there. No one's picking up."

"You don't think Shy made his move, do you?" Faith asked. "Wouldn't we have known about it?"

"I don't think he did." Willow said. "We would have known by now."

"Maybe they're stuck in traffic." Illyria piped up. They all looked at her.

It was Spike that explained. "I've been letting Big Blue watch movies. She's picking things up quick."

"Well, that's great, but I really don't think they're stuck in traffic." Angel said.

"Where's Connor and Dawn?" Willow asked.

"They had some classes to get to. They'll be here later."

"Maybe Buffy and Xander went with them."

"Why would they?"

Willow shrugged. "I don't know."

Angel sighed. "This is horrible."

"I'm sure they're fine." Spike said. "Buffy's a big girl. She can take care of herself and the Boy Wonder."

"Spike's right." Faith said. "Let's just wait a little longer before we kick the worry meter up a few thousand notches. I'm sure B's five by five."

* * *

"What? How?" Buffy asked.

"I'm sure I don't need to explain that to you." The doctor said.

"Not that part, but…. How?"

"Sorry, this is really big news for her." Xander said.

"Are you the father?" The doctor asked.

"No. I'm the uncle. Could you just…. Give us a few minutes?"

"Sure." The doctor nodded and left the room.

"This can't be happening." Buffy said. "This is…. No. It can't be."

"You heard what he said."

"Pregnant? Yeah, I got that. But I don't…. How? Is there another prophecy out there? Was Connor a fluke and this is the real deal?" Buffy paused. "No. Wait, that's wrong. Connor did kill Sahjahn."

"I don't know the how. But this is great!"

"How is this great? This is the worst timing ever!"

"Maybe this apocalypse won't go down with a big blow out like the last fourteen have." Buffy stared at Xander incredulously. "Ok, that didn't come out right."

"This officially puts me out of commission."

"No. No it doesn't. Does it?"

"Yeah! I can't fight Shy and be pregnant! The baby wouldn't make it."

"Connor did."

"I didn't fight any big demons like Shy while I was pregnant with Connor and also…. Connor was protected."

"Maybe this one is too. Maybe the Ancient Ones sent this one to you to for a job well done."

"But why now? Why not after this is all over?" Buffy buried her face in her hands.

Xander took Buffy's hands and made her look into his eyes…. Uh, eye. "To show you that there's still hope left. That we're going to find a way to bring them back and fix this crazy world."

"I can't tell Angel."

"Why not?"

"Well, I can't tell him right away. What if this baby isn't protected? What if I get into a fight with a normal vampire and one good blow kills him… her…. The baby? It would break his heart."

"At least you wouldn't be alone in your grief."

"I can't tell him. Not yet. Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I promise. But you can only keep this secret so long. Eventually you're gonna get fat."

"Oh, that's real funny."

"That's my job."

* * *

"Hello everyone, we have finally arrived!" Xander announced as he and Buffy walked into the lobby of the Hyperion. There were a few Slayers standing around who looked over and then away. Buffy knew they were in trouble.

"Where have you two been?" Angel asked, walking up to them. "We were worried sick that something had happened to you two."

"We, uh….." Buffy started.

"We got hungry and Buff here just HAD to have some really good pizza, so we decided to head down to Pizza By The Pound. There was a long wait, but when a Slayer's hungry…. Am I right?" Xander asked, covering quite well.

"You went out for pizza on the other side of town?" Willow asked skeptically.

"Yeah. Wouldn't you if you had a huge hunkering for pizza?"

"At nine in the morning there was a wait?" Angel asked.

"We had to wait for it to open." Buffy said.

"And then it took you…." Angel looked at his watch. "Four hours to eat?"

"You didn't let me finish. Before we ate, we went window shopping. The Buffster here saw this great shirt she really wanted to buy, but the store wasn't open. So, after we ate at eleven, we went back to the store only to find out that the shirt was a maternity shirt." Xander noticed Buffy's eyes widen. "I told her she should buy it…. Just in case she ever needed it again any time soon, but…. She didn't want to waste her money."

"You went shopping?" Willow asked. "For maternity clothes?"

"It was an accident! Who puts maternity shirts in store windows of stores that aren't strictly maternity?"

"Why didn't you call?" Angel asked Buffy.

"We left our cell phones in the car." Buffy said. "So, what'd I miss? Did we find out anything more on the key thing?"

"Willow's been searching everywhere she can on the net, but the Powers have pretty much erased everything there is on these Ancient Ones." Angel and Buffy headed into the office.

Willow looked at Xander. "Pizza and shopping? You couldn't come up with anything better?"

"I was in a tight spot there. At least Angel bought it."

"That's because he's a little naive when it comes to Buffy's safety. Where were you two really?"

Xander made sure Buffy wasn't looking and then pulled Willow into the bathroom in the back. "Buffy's pregnant."

"What?"

"Shh! She told me not to tell anyone, especially Angel, but I'm like a gossipy little teeny bopper. I had to tell you. When I got to her house, she was throwing up in the bathroom. I carried her into the living room and set her down on the couch. The woman was like a rag doll. So, I got worried and took her to the hospital."

"That's where you two were all that time?"

"Yeah. The doctor told her she was pregnant."

"Oh my God! That's great."

"She doesn't think so."

"Why not?"

"She thinks that this baby is going to distract her from defeating Shy and the Powers."

"Oh. She's got a point there."

"I know, but I think that this is these Ancient guys are trying to show her that they're still here in some form and they're trying to give her hope."

"Oh, that's good."

"But whatever you do, do NOT tell Angel."

"Why?"

"Because she doesn't want him to know just yet. So if you tell him, she's gonna know that I told."

"And she'll kill you." Xander nodded and Willow gasped.

"What?"

"Why did you tell me?"

"What?"

"Why did you tell me? I'm horrible at keeping secrets."

"Put a binding spell on you or something."

"Xander."

"What?"

"Xander?" Buffy called.

"Uh oh." Xander walked out of the bathroom. "Yeah?"

"Where's Willow?"

"In the bathroom. She was showing me this cool... glowy trick, thing."

"Oh. Can you tell her that I want to talk to her when you guys are through?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

Buffy sat with Spike in the chapel at the graveyard a few miles from the Hyperion. Everyone had gone out on patrol and Buffy had asked Spike to stick with her because she had wanted to talk to him. When the groups had split up, Spike and Buffy had headed to the cemetery and the large mausoleum slash building that housed many dead people that were slid into the walls of the place and the big, beautiful chapel that the two of them sat in. "So, I was right then?" Spike asked.

"Yes. You were right." Buffy said.

"And why can't I tell Angel? Or anybody else for that matter?"

"Because if something happens to the baby, then... Then it won't hurt that many people."

Spike pulled her into a hug. "You're secret's safe with me, luv. No worries."

"Good."

"So, when are you due?"

"Eight months from yesterday."

"A July baby? Poor kid."

"Why?"

"It's bloody hot in July! Who wants to be miserable on their birthday?"

"Oh, well, that's just great Spike! Not only does the kid have to worry about fighting for its life before its even born, now it has to worry about miserable birthdays too." Buffy started to say something, but a crash outside the chapel interrupted her.

"Time to spring into action, then, eh?"

Angel came, literally, flying through the doors and landed at their feet. "Angel!" Buffy kneeled down and held his head. "What happened?"

"Shy…." Angel managed to groan.

"Shy?"

"He's here."

Buffy helped Angel to his feet just as Willow, Connor, Faith, Xander, and Dawn ran into the chapel. "Where are the other Slayers?"

"Out on patrol, I guess." Willow said. "Angel and I ran into Shy and started to run back here to find you. I called everyone to come back, but I guess the Slayers didn't get the message."

"Never mind all that. Where is he?" Spike asked. What was left of the doors to the chapel flew off their hinges and landed in the pews with a crash. "Oh, there he is."

Demons started to swarm in from behind Shy and attack the group. Shy seemed to ignore them and headed for Buffy. Everyone around Buffy was fighting, but Buffy was staring at Shy completely paralyzed to the spot, staring at Shy as he walked towards her. "The key, Slayer. I know you have it."

Buffy couldn't speak she was so scared. She couldn't bring herself to fight. The life of her child seemed to take on a whole new form of the fight or flight struggle within her and it practically collapsed towards flight. But Shy was so close now, that she couldn't get her legs to cooperate. "Buffy!" Angel yelled. He tried to get to her, but three demons knocked him down.

"Slayer, I don't have all day." Shy growled. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.

"No!" Spike yelled, but he couldn't break free from the demons he was fighting. Willow was too busy concentrating on keeping the demons around her away from her, she couldn't concentrate on Buffy and Shy, Faith and Connor were fighting off demons and vampires of their own, and Xander was holding his own too far away with a group of bloodsuckers and puss-demons. No one could get to her as she felt her lungs start to burn from the lack of oxygen. Buffy's fear for her baby was going to kill her.


	16. She's Having A Baby

Chapter 16

"Buffy!" Angel yelled. He didn't understand why she wasn't fighting back. Maybe she was under some spell. "Buffy! Snap out of it, baby! Willow, do something."

"Kinda busy here Angel!" Willow called back. She was concentrating on the force-field of electricity that surrounded her and kept the demons at bay. By the look on her face, she was trying to extend it, but the demons kept jumping at her and knocking the field back.

Angel grunted with exertion and shoved the demons out of the way. He managed to dive under the legs of one and grab onto Shy's rock-hard ankle. Before the demon had time to react, Angel pulled with all his might and toppled Shy. Buffy came crashing limply to the floor, half conscience. Angel picked her up and placed her behind the altar, letting her come around. The floor began to shake and Angel looked up to see Shy clambering towards him and Buffy.

"I will have the key!" Shy bellowed.

"Dawn!" Angel yelled. Dawn turned away from the demon she was fighting by the front of the pews and jumped over the railing, running over to Angel. "Watch your sister."

"Is she gonna be ok?" Dawn asked, holding her sister's head in her lap.

"Just help her come around." With that, Angel threw himself at Shy.

"Oh... Buffy, wake up! This is so not good." Dawn patted Buffy's back. "You're ok. You're safe."

"Where's... Connor?" Buffy asked, coughing and wheezing.

"He's out there helping Angel fight off Shy." Buffy shook her head. "What? What is it?"

"He... needs to... be... be here."

"Why?" Buffy coughed and gasped for air. Her throat felt like it was on fire as it tried to fix itself and her lungs burned twice as hard. She was about to attempt to say something, but Dawn screamed as a demon appeared beside the alter. Buffy struggled to her feet and grabbed Dawn's hand. She pulled them into the little room where the priest must get ready for funerals and slammed the door, bolting it shut. "What are you doing?"

"Help me barricade."

"Why? Aren't you going to fight?" The demon threw himself against the door and Buffy managed to move a couch in front of it. "Buffy!"

"Just help me!"

Dawn helped Buffy pile things on and around the couch. When there was no more stuff to put in front of the door, Dawn turned to Buffy and saw the frightened look on her face. "Buffy, what's wrong?" Dawn hugged her sister tightly.

"I can't. I can't do it anymore." Buffy started to cry. "It's too much."

"What is?" Dawn jumped a little as the demon was joined by more demons slamming against the door.

"I can't risk this life inside me."

"Buffy, you've risked your life over and over. What's wrong with you? Are you under a spell or something?"

"I'm not protected. I can't do it. It's not a gift! Not now."

"Buffy..." The demon's slammed hard against the door, moving the barricade an inch or two. "You have to get over this. You have to fight."

"I can't!"

"You can. You're Buffy the Vampire Slayer! You defeated the First Evil! You're my big sister who sacrificed herself to save me!"

"Dawn, I can't fight anymore."

"Did you lose your powers?"

"No. I just... I can't."

Dawn let out a yelp as the barricade moved further back. "Buffy!"

"That's right, follow Spikey!" Spike yelled from out in the chapel.

"Spike?" Dawn called.

"I'm here, Little Bits!"

"Buffy's lost it in here! She's really flipped her lid. She needs help."

"I'm trying!"

"I can't." Buffy muttered to herself, tears still falling.

"Oh God, she's really wigged." Dawn went to her sister and held her, letting her sister cry on her shoulder. "Shh. It's ok. Spike's here." The barricade finally fell, but it wasn't a nasty demon standing there, it was Angel.

"Buffy? Baby, what's wrong?" Angel ran to her and picked her up in his arms like a child. "Shh. Don't cry. It's over."

"What's wrong?" Faith asked, walking into the little room.

"It's Buffy. She's completely wigged." Dawn said. She noticed the look that passed between Spike and Xander. "What?"

"What?" The two men asked.

"What do you mean 'what'? You two know something."

"No we don't." Spike said.  
"Yes you do."

"What would make you say that?" Xander asked.

"I saw that look you two shared."

"It was a look of concern for our friend."

"What are you hiding?" Faith asked. "I know you. You're a bad liar."

"Do you know something?" Angel asked, still holding tightly to Buffy.

"No!" Xander and Spike both said.

"Where's Connor?" Buffy asked, pushing away from Angel. "Where is he?"

"He's out there with Willow. He's ok." Angel said gently.

Buffy ignored him and walked out into the chapel. Connor was checking the demons to make sure they were all dead. "Connor." Buffy ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm ok mom." Connor said. "It's ok. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being such a bad mother."  
"You're not a bad mother."

"I am. I let Holtz take you."

"There was nothing you could do. You and dad both tried…."

"If I'd have just…."

"Shh. Come on, mom, let's get you home."

* * *

"She's asleep." Angel announced, walking down the stairs into the living room. "Now, does someone want to tell me what the hell happened back there?"

"Shy attacked, we fought back." Xander said.

"I think he means with Buffy." Dawn said. "I've never seen her like that before. She was completely wigged."

"She was so broken." Faith said. "And I don't mean from Shy crushing her vocals."

"What are you not telling me?" Angel asked Xander and Spike. They started to protest, but Angel cut them off. "No lies."

"We promised we wouldn't tell you." Xander said.

"Tell me what?"

"About why Buffy got so scared tonight."

"I think I deserve to know so I can fight it and kill it and get Buffy back to normal."

"That won't be happenin' any time soon, mate." Spike said. "At least not for seven or eight months."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know she'll have our heads if we tell him." Xander said to Spike.

"She can't hide it forever." Spike said.

"Everyone will know soon enough. I'm sure that she would have had to have explained it to everyone before the week was out."

"If you two don't start talking, I'm gonna…."

"Buffy's pregnant!" Willow blurted. They all stared at her.

"That's really not that funny, Willow." Dawn said.

"She made Xander promise not to tell anyone, but he told me. And Buffy told Spike apparently. That's where they were today. At the hospital. That's why Buffy's been so sick lately. I'm sorry, Xander."

Everyone looked over at Angel's face. Spike stood up and walked over to Angel. "Not that I'm much for playing friends with you, but are you all right?"

"Why didn't she tell me?" Angel asked quietly.

"She said that if something happened…. To the baby, it wouldn't hurt you. She didn't tell you to protect you. Just like before."

"Before?"

"Oh right, she didn't tell you about that one, either. Do you remember that whole 'bad Chinese' bit last year?"

Angel nodded and then understood. "She thought…."

"And she didn't tell you because she didn't want to hurt you."

"How?"

"Well, she didn't want you to get all broody because you had a law firm to ru…."

"No, I mean, how can she be pregnant? I can't…. at least, I thought I couldn't."

"The way I figure it," Xander said. "It's these Ancient guys giving Buffy hope for a better future. Giving us all hope for a better future."

"Oh my God!" Connor said suddenly.

"What?" Willow asked.

"I'm gonna be a big brother!" They all started at him, bewildered. "This is amazing! I'm gonna be a big brother!"

"You guys will have a second chance to raise a baby." Faith said to Angel.

"Uh huh." Angel turned and walked up the stairs.

"He didn't seem happy." Willow said. "Shouldn't he be happy?"  
"It's a lot to process, Red." Spike said. "Buffy's still having a hard time grasping this."

Angel ignored them as he headed up the stairs to his and Buffy's room. There she was, sleeping soundly amongst the soft sheets, and she was carrying his child. Their second child. Quietly, he walked over to her and kneeled down beside her. He could hear it now. The faint heartbeat of the baby just under hers. Her skin glowed, just like the first time. He placed his hand over her stomach and stared in amazement at what they'd created. Silently, he bowed his head and prayed to the Ancient Ones to keep this baby safe and to keep his wife safe.

Buffy stirred in her sleep and murmured his name. "I'm here, baby." Angel said softly, kissing her hair and stroking her cheek. "I won't leave you. And I want you to know that I'm not mad at you. I understand why you kept it from me. I just want you to know that no matter what, you should be able to tell me anything so you don't have to go through that pain by yourself. I'll always be there to comfort you and hold you." He kissed her hair again. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

The next morning, Buffy woke up to Angel standing over her with a breakfast tray and a huge smile on his face. "Good morning."

"Mmm…. Morning." Buffy sat up groggily. "What's going on?"

"I made you breakfast in bed."

"Why?"

"Just thought you could use a little pampering."

"I'm not really that hungry."

"Oh." Angel's face fell.

"But it was nice of you to think about me." Buffy quickly amended.

"I'm always thinking about you."

"Oh God, they told you, didn't they?"

"I made them." Angel said.

"God, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to find out like that."

"It's ok. Really. I'm not mad."

"You're not?"

"No! Of course not." Angel slipped into bed with her and wrapped her in his arms. "I'm just happy you're ok."

"I don't know what happened to me last night. I just…. Panicked! I saw him coming towards me and the very thought of him getting in one good blow and…. I couldn't do it."

"It's ok."

"What happened last night?"

"We won. For now."

"What happened to Shy?"

"Connor and I managed to break his arm and take off the bottom half of it. Willow's gonna use it to see if there's a way to figure out how to kill him and…."

Buffy let out a sob, interrupting him. "Angel…. I'm so scared."

"Shh. I am too."

"You don't understand. I don't know if I can fight because I don't know if this baby is protected like Connor was. I can't risk it. We'll never know if there will be another chance to…." She sobbed again, cutting off her own sentence.

Angel pulled her closer as she started to cry harder. He hated seeing her so broken like this. "I have an idea."

"What?"

"We can take your mind off of it by going shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Yeah! We need to decorate the other room and turn it into a nursery, don't we? All of Connor's baby things were destroyed with Sunnydale, so we definitely need new furniture and clothes and toys."

"What about work?"

"The gang will take care of it. They just want you to be ok. They were really worried about you last night." Buffy's eyes widened. "What?" She shoved him away and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Angel smile slightly and picked up the phone, calling the office.


	17. Double the Surprise

Chapter 17

A couple of weeks later, Buffy and Angel walked into the Hyperion's lobby and were greeted with silence. "Hello?" Buffy called.

"Where is everyone?" Angel asked.

"Surprise!" Xander, Willow, and Dawn popped out from behind the reception area and Faith, Spike, and Connor, came down the stairs opposite Buffy and Angel. Dawn held a big cake with _Congratulaions Buffy and Angel _on it, Xander bent down and pulled out a big bowl of punch, Faith laid down plates, napkins, and utensils on the reception counter next to the cake, and Connor turned the settee around to reveal presents stacked around it. Willow said somthing in Latin and party decorations appeared.

"What's this all about?" Buffy asked.

"Well, since Shy's in remission and the Powers That Be-Loosin-To-Us have nothing else to throw at us, we figured... Party in baby's honor." Xander said. "An early baby shower if you will."

"Plus, we all wanted to see the baby pictures first and this was the only way for all of us to see them first... after you guys... and the doctor... of course." Willow said. Buffy began to cry. "Oh, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Or are those happy tears?"

"No." Buffy wiped her face. "My hormones are out of control. I don't remember having them this bad with Connor." Everyone shifted and looked away. Buffy started to cry again. "You guys said it wasn't that bad! Why did you lie to me?"

"Awe, Buff, we just didn't want to set you off." Dawn said, hugging her sister tightly.

"Well, you shouldn't have LIED to me!"

"Deep breaths." Angel said. "The doctor told you to be careful. No stress, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. I remember."

"Hey, how about that cake!" Faith said.

"Cake..." Buffy nodded. "I could go for some cake."

"And punch." Spike said. "There's punch. And I made it."

"Then I think I'll settle for some tea."

Spike scoffed. "I make damn good punch."

"There's probably rum or something in it. Pregnant people can't have alcohol."

"I didn't put much in it!"

"Dawn, drop the ladle." Angel said as she started to pour herself a cup.

"So, where are the pictures?" Willow asked.

"Yeah I wanna see my baby brother." Connor said.

"Well, there's something we need to tell you." Angel said.

"Oh no..." Willow gasped. "Is the baby ok?"

"The babies are fine."

"Oh thank God." It took a minute for it to sink in.

"Babies?" Xander asked.

"As in, more than one?" Faith asked.

"You're having twins?" Dawn squealed.

"Oh my God!" Willow bounced up and down. "You're having twins!"

"I'm gonna have two little brothers?" Connor asked.

"Since when did you decide that they're boys?" Angel asked.

"Well, I decided it was going to be a boy, but then you told me twins. So, about five seconds ago."

"Congratulations!" Willow said, hugging Buffy tightly. "I can't wait to tell Giles."

"Actually, he already knows." Buffy said. "Angel and I talked to him on the way here. He's planning on flying in on Thursday for a couple of days."  
"That's awesome!"  
"Am I interuppting something big?" A male voice said from the front doors. "Cause, I was invited."

"Elijah!" Dawn ran over to the boy and hugged him tightly. "My sister's having twins!"

"Who is that?" Buffy asked Connor.

"That's Dawn's new boyfriend. They met a few weeks ago and started dating last week." Connor explained.

"Dating? How come she didn't tell me about him?"

"She said she meant to, but things got crazy."  
"Buffy, Angel, this is Elijah Ardmore. Elijah, this is my sister Buffy and my brother-in-law Angel."

"Interesting names." Elijah said. "I've heard a lot about you."

"How much?" Angel asked.

"Angel." Dawn warned.

"Just checking you didn't reveal any deep, dark family secrets, that's all."

"Well, I'd just like to say congratulations on the baby... whoops, babies." Elijah said. "That's always happy news."

"How old are you?" Buffy asked.

Elijah chuckled. "Twenty two."  
"Twnety two, huh? Dawn's nineteen."

"Buffy, chill." Dawn said.

"Hormones won't let me."

"You can ignore her." Dawn said to Elijah.

"It's cool. I don't mind being grilled by the big sis guardian."

"Well, the grilling will have to wait." Buffy said. "I want cake."

"Cake is always good."

* * *

Buffy stood in the corner watching her sister hug and kiss her new boyfriend. There was something off about Elijah and she couldn't place her finger on it. The party had wound down and they were all quiet and off in their own little worlds. Angel walked over to Buffy and took her hand. "Are you ok?" Buffy just made a noise and kept staring. Angel glanced at what she was looking at. "Oh. I see."

"There's something not right about him." Buffy said quietly.

"Baby, it's just your hormones. He's a nice guy and Dawn seems to like him."

"I know, but... It could be a spell. Like with that guy and the jacket!"

"It's not a spell."

"Well, how do you know that?"  
"I smelled the magicks on that guy's coat. I don't smell anything but AXE body spray on him."

"Maybe it's the AXE! Maybe it's enchanted."

"Buffy."

"It's just, that's my little sister and I don't like that guy."

"It'll be ok Buffy. She's growing up."

"She needs to stop."

"Do you want to go home?"

"No. I want to go shopping again."

"Are the stores open?"  
"It's only four o'clock."

"And why do you want to go shopping again? We've already got all the furniture we need for the baby. Whoops. I guess we need to double up on that."

"Besides, my boobs are popping out of this shirt. I need clothes that will fit me. And I need... God, I hate this, maternity clothes."

"Why do you hate that?" Connor asked, walking over to her.

"All those frills! And pastel colors! Bluck!"

Connor laughed. "Dad told me you used to wear that kind of stuff all the time."

"Not all the time. Sure, I went through a small phase, but that was only because I was trying to convince mom that I was going to be ok." Buffy perked up. "Hey Connor, do you want to go shopping with us?"

"Can't. I have a late afternoon class coming up. Wish I could though."

"Darn." Buffy perked up again and headed over to Dawn. "Hey Dawnie, do you wanna go shopping for the baby with Angel and I? We've gotta get more furniture and toys."

"Nah. Elijah and I have a date tonight." Dawn said.

"Oh." Buffy's face fell. "Well, ok. Where're you going?"

"The movies and then TGIFridays. Elijah says the Jack Daniel's chicken and shrimp is really good."

"If that's all right with you, Mrs. Summers." Elijah said.

"I guess so... Don't call me Mrs. Summers. Makes me feel old." Buffy said.

"You're not old at all."

"Yeah, ok. I guess you guys should go ahead and go then."

"Are you sure, Buffy?" Dawn asked. "You seem kind of upset."

"I'm sure your sister's just fine." Elijah said. "She's just got those crazy pregnancy hormones spinning out of control."

"She's standing right here." Buffy said.

"Buffy!" Dawn said. "Be nice."

"What? I am being nice."

"Come on, Dawn. Don't want to upset your sister anymore than she already is." Elijah said. "It was nice meeting everyone." He and Dawn waved and then headed out the doors.

"Boy, that Elijah is a nice guy." Willow said. She saw the look on Buffy's face. "But if you want me to turn him into a toad for you, I'll be more than happy to." Buffy glared at Willow. "Just saying."

"I don't know. I just think he's being too nice."

"Awe, give him a break. He was meeting the future in-laws for the first time." Xander said. Buffy delivered his arm a hard punch. "Ow!"

"That's really not funny."

"All I'm saying is he was meeting the people that care about Dawn the most and that's always nervewracking. Especially if the in-laws just so happen to be demons." Xander sighed dramatically. "Ah, the good old bad days."

"I just think there's something off about him."

"Not to get hit or anything, but I think Elijah was right." Willow said. "Maybe it's just your hormones going haywire."

"I'm kinda with B on this one." Faith said. "The guy was just too nice for my tastes."

"Thank you." Buffy said. "Hey, do you wanna go shopping with me and Angel for the baby?"

"You know what? I think I do."

"You want to shop for baby things?" Spike asked Faith.

"Yeah. As long as I don't have to try on anything frilly, I'm five by five."

"Girl scout's honor. No frills." Buffy said.

* * *

Dawn smiled at Elijah dreamily. "You're so awesome." She said. "I can't believe how lucky I am."

"I can't believe how lucky _I_ am." Elijah said, making Dawn's heart melt. "You're the most wonderful woman I've ever been with."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

Dawn almost let out an insane fangirl giggle, but managed to stop herself. "Excuse me."

"Where're you going?"

"The lady's room."

"I'll be waiting."

Dawn smiled and scrunched up her nose the way Elijah said he thought was totally cute on her. "I hope so."

Elijah watched her walk away to the restrooms and then stopped smiling. He thought Dawn was a cool girl, but he wondered how much longer he had to keep this charade going for the Powers That Be. A few months ago, he had been hit with a mind blowing (and he meant that literally) vision of this pretty blonde chick and then another, darker haired chick that looked a lot like the first one. Then the Powers came to him in a dream... Well, actually, he had been more like standing in a pit of gray smoke that smelled like sulfer... And they told him about the Slayer and their plans to destory her to get their evil plans back on track. They had asked him to woo Buffy's little sister Dawn over and get her to tell him everything. So far, Dawn had withheld the fact that her sister was the Slayer and that her brother-in-law was a vampire. He needed to gain her trust. Unfortunately, the night hadn't gone like he'd planned. When Dawn had invited him to come to her sister's baby shower, he had thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get in good with the Slayer herself, but it hadn't been that easy. Apparently Buffy wasn't that easily wooed like her sister. The nice-guy act hadn't worked on her. He could tell that she was wary of him. The comment about her hormones hadn't gone over well with her either.

Dawn came back from the restroom and sat down. "I see you're still here."

A burning sensation at the back of his brain stopped him from saying anything sweet to her. Instead he said, "Not for long."

"What do you mean?"

"I gotta go to the bathroom now."

"Oh. Ok. I'll be here."

Elijah went to the bathroom, checked to see if there was anyone in there with him, and then locked the outer door so no one else could come in. The burning sensation was the Powers telling him they wanted to talk. As soon as he locked the door, the room turned into the fiery pit again and the shadows in the smoke surrounding him began to move. "I don't have long. I'm with the Slayer's sister."

"Yesssssss, we know." One voice said.

"You are making progresssssss with her?" Another voice asked.

"Yes. Today she ditched the Slayer to go with me. Didn't even offer to cancel with me."

"Thissssss issssss very good." The first voice said.

"Yesssss." A third voice piped up. "When the time comesssss, the Sssssslayer'ssssss ssssssissssster will choosssssse you over her."

"When is the time coming anyway?" Elijah asked.

"In due time. Have patience child." The second voice said.

"Go back to her now." The first voice said.

The room returned to normal and there was a pounding on the door. "Is there anyone in there? Is there anyone hurt?" A voice yelled through the door.

Elijah opened the door. "Sorry, I'm just really shy about going in public restrooms." He ignored their stares eh recieved as he headed back to Dawn. "Hey gorgeous, let's get outta here."


	18. The Answers Needed

Chapter 18 

Shy sat in the dark, sulking over his destroyed arm. The vampire and his son had brutally ripped it off of him while he was trying to get to the little room where the Slayer was hiding. He heard the door downstairs open and someone stepped inside. "Dad?" The boy called. Shy listened to the footsteps of his son ascend the stairs and then light poured into his room and Elijah walked in. "You're still in here sulking?"

"I'm not sulking. Where have you been?"

"Out with Dawn."

"You're spending too much time with that girl. She's the sister of the Slayer. Sooner or later she'll catch on to you if you're not careful."

"You know, you really don't have to give me the drill here. I know all of this. The Powers came to me, remember? They obviously thought that you couldn't do the job. They found you out."

"And they'll find you out if you don't watch your back."

Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes. A year ago he didn't even know his father existed. His mother had always told him that he was dead. Elijah didn't think he was because of certain feelings he got. He also knew that his mom was a wonderful person and that the evil he felt was inside of him that he had always felt had to have come from his father. Then, on his 21st birthday, he started having these weird dreams. When he asked his mom about them, she just sighed and told him to ignore them. A week later, a guy... Well, not really a guy... showed up to him out in the parking lot of a bar after a night of drinking. Elijah had been so drunk, he had thought it was just a hallucination. Then the demon had told him that he was his father and that he needed his help. When Elijah asked his mother the next day, she had confessed everything. Elijah was half demon.

A Garshundik demon to be exact. Then, the dreams he had been having became clear. It was the Powers revealing everything to him. And he meant everything. The Powers showed him a world beyond his wildest dreams and showed him the way to get there. They managed to pull some metaphorical strings and got him into UCLA for free. He didn't have to attend classes or read books or listen to boring professors lecture for three hours. All he had to do was woo the Slayer's younger sister into listening to him. _Eventually_, the Powers said, _she will come to our side and destroy the inner circle of the Slayer_. At the time it sounded like an easy task, but once he had met Dawn and gotten to know her, he wasn't so sure. The bonds between everyone in that little group were deeper than what the Powers had let on to. Not only was there respect and friendship and love between them, they considered themselves family. All of them having come from some form of a dysfunctional family background made their bond with each other pretty much unbreakable. This was going to take more time than the Powers had thought.

* * *

Dawn shut the door behind her quietly and started to head up the stairs. "You're home late." Buffy said from the shadows of the living room.

"Who are you, mom?" Dawn asked, flipping on the lamp on the table. "It's not even midnight." Buffy pointed at the clock. It was 1:15. "Oh."

"So where were you?"

"Out."

"Dawn, come on. What's so bad about this guy that you don't want me to know about him?"

"Nothing's bad about him."

"Then why didn't you tell me you two were seeing each other?"

"Cause I knew you'd wig if I told you how he was."

"I didn't wig."

"You did. You started to embarass me."

"I did not." Buffy sighed. "Look, I'm pregnant and I can't keep my hormones in check. Things pop out of my mouth that I really can't control. So, would you just come here and talk to me?"

Dawn sighed. "He's a nice guy."

"And?"  
"That's all you need to know."

"Dawn, come on! What does he study? Who does he hang out with? Is he a demon?"

"He isn't a demon!"  
"How do you know?"

"I just do! God, you need to get unpregnant soon if this is how you're going to be."

"Why are you acting like this? I just wanna know about your boyfriend. The last one you had was a vampire."

"He wasn't my boyfriend."

"Oh that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing as how you were making out with him in his stolen car."

"I didn't know he was a vampire."

"And you don't know if this boy is a demon."

"Well, I know he's not a vampire. He goes in the sun. Can I go to bed now?"

Buffy sighed. "Dawn, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Well, I won't. Contrary to popular belief, I'm a big girl now and I can take care of myself." Dawdn turned and headed up the stairs.

Buffy watched her go, fighting to hold back the tears. These stupid hormones were really working overtime. Buffy wanted to admit that this Elijah guy was nice, but there was something off about him. He didn't feel right to Buffy. She couldn't place her finger on it and try as she might, she just couldn't get past it. But everyone just chalked it up to raging hormones and went about their business. In Buffy's mind, Elijah's timing was too perfect. Shy was in remission, so there weren't any new bad guys a brewin that they knew of. Why wouldn't the Powers send someone in to infiltrate their little circle and tell them everything that went on? But of course, no one would listen to her. Maybe these babies weren't the workings of the Ancients. Maybe the Powers gave them to her now so they could make everyone ignore her. That was it. She wanted to find out the truth.

* * *

"Willow." Buffy said, walking into the Hyperion the next day.

"Hey Buff, where's Angel?" Willow asked.

"At home asleep. Listen, I need to ask you something."

"Sure."

"Is there any way to use that key to temporarily get into the Ancients' deimension?"

"I haven't tried. In fact, I don't even know if this key is any good. Everything I've tried has gone kapluey. And I mean that literally for a few of the tries."

"Try again."

"Why? What's up?"

"I need answers and I think these Ancient Ones could be the ones to provide me with them."  
"I don't know if I can."

"If at first you don't succeed..."

"Try until your brain falls out. Are you sure this is safe?"

"No. But I know its the only way I'm going to be able to put my mind at ease."

"About what?"

"Everything." Buffy started to head to her office, but stopped before she got to the door. "And Willow? No one else is to know about this."

"Uh, yeah. Ok Buffy."

Buffy sat down in her chair behind her desk and moved to pick up some files on two Slayers when suddenly the room went completely white and a bright light blinded her. She shielded her eyes and looked around as best she could for signs of an attack. Then Buffy got the feeling that she was floating. When she blinked her eyes, the light had dimmed to reveal a beautiful, breathtaking landscape. There was a waterfall across a large, clear blue lake and gorgeous willow trees surrounding the lake.

"Welcome beautiful Slayer, to our home." A voice echoed around her. It was soft and twinkling sounding.

"Where am I?" Buffy called. "What is this place?"

"You are in the land of the Ancients. Welcome."

"How did I get here?"

"We summoned you here."

"You can do that?"

"You have made it possible."

"Willow did it?"

There was a soft chuckling sound. "No, young Slayer, through your battle for all that is good, you have increased our powers enough to come back to your world periodically."

"And you brought me here why?"

This time it was a female voice that spoke up. "To answer your questions, of course."

"You heard that?"

"Yes, we heard that." The female voice said. It sounded like she was smiling.

"Ok then, so... Is it you guys that got me pregnant?"

"Yes. We knew this would give you hope for a better future."

"But I don't understand how. One good hit could kill my babies."

"No, Slayer, just like your first born, these are protected."

"That was you guys? With Connor I mean?"

"Yes. That was us." There was a soft laughing sound. "Did you think the Powers would bestoy upon you such a gift?"

"Well, not after I found out they're bad." More soft laughing. "What about the SahJahn prophecy with Connor?"

"That was not us. That was the Powers' way of trying to kill your son."

"That's not fair."

"The Powers are not fair young one."

"And what about me and Angel?"

"We are responsible for bringing you together. The Powers are the reason you had so much heartache and despair in your lives."

"Figures."

"We only wished to bring you peace in times of trouble. That is why Angel was sent to you. He was to fight at your side and protect you and love you."

"How did the Powers take over?"

"It was a slow and tedious process. The demons of this world, the ones now known as the Powers That Be, swore their legeance to us. They served us and did our bidding on Earth, but behind our backs, so to speak, they plotted our demise. While under our care they stole our secrets and found a way to bind us so that evil could prevail."

"Why is it taking so long?"

"They have to reverse the good we did before the demons."

"There was good?"

"Yes, young Slayer. They erased all references of the good before the bad."

"Because they erased the references to you?"

"Yes."

"Why did you choose me to be the Slayer?"

"Because we knew you would change the world. When you came into this world with the potential of a Chosen One, there was something different from the other potential Slayers."

"Can you look into the future?"

There was laughing again. "Not in the way you believe."

"We can only feel the future."

"Oh." Buffy sighed and sat down on a large, flat rock. "And when I died... Did I come here?"

And again with the laughing. "No, young Slayer, you went to a dimension similar to this one."

"How come I can't remember it all anymore? It used to be so clear."

"It is still inside of your mind, just look deeper. If you just concentrate and believe, the possibilities are infinite."

"Now you sound like an ad for the army... or possibly Disney."

More laughing. "You are very amusing Slayer."

"I try."

"I wish we could spend more time answering your questions, but our powers grow weak. We do not want to wear out the spell protecting your babies."

"Yeah, no... That would be bad."  
"Remember, young Slayer, you can win this war." The voice echoed lower and then the white light came again.

"Buffy." Willow's voice said. "Wake up, Buffy."

Buffy lifted her head off the desk. "I'm awake."

"Are you ok?"

Buffy blinked and looked around the office. She felt fully rejuvinated and ready for the war ahead. "Yeah." Buffy nodded. "Yeah."

"Um, and about that thing you asked earlier... I still can't figure it out."

Buffy smiled and patted Willow's shoulder. "Don't worry. You will."

"Are you sure you're ok? You didn't, like, eat Ted's cookies again, did you?"

"I'm fine, Wills. For the first time in a long time, I think everything's going to work out ok."

"You sure about those cookies?"

Buffy laughed. "Yeah. I'm sure."

* * *

That night, when Dawn returned home with Connor, Buffy was in the dining room setting up the table for dinner. "Hey guys. Get cleaned up, supper will be ready in fifteen."

"What's going on?" Connor asked, hanging his coat in the closet.

"Nothing. Why?"

"You're cooking, mom."

"Yeah, that's just not normal." Dawn said, laying her bookbag in the closet.

"Well, I feel great. So, I figured, why not pull out one of mom's old cookbooks and bake?" Buffy said, heading towards the kitchen.

Angel walked in and looked at Connor and Dawn. "What are you guys staring at?"

"Mom's lost it, dad." Connor said.

"Why?" Angel saw the dining room table all set up for dinner and smelled food cooking. "Oh."

"Is she gonna be ok? I don't remember her being this giddy last time around." Dawn said.

Angel looked at Connor and then Dawn and smiled. "She's gonna be fine, guys." He headed upstairs and left Dawn and Connor bewildered in the foyer.

Connor shook his head. "Well, I guess I'll go get cleaned up too." He followed his dad up the stairs.

Dawn headed into the kitchen. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, why?" Buffy said. She turned to look at Dawn and Dawn realized just how much like their mother Buffy really was.

"It's just, you don't cook."

"I cook. Just not all the time." Buffy sighed. "Mom was the best cook and I wanted to slip into her shoes. Try out the mommy role."

"Why?"

"Because, this time I get to BE a mom."

"You ARE a mom."

"I only meant this time I get to raise my kids. I get to witness their childhood and be there for their firsts. I didn't get that with Connor."

"That's cause he got taken to a hell dimension."

"Don't remind me."

"Well, I wish I could stay, but I have a date with Elijah tonight."

"Another one? Ah, Dawnie, I cooked!"

"I know, but…."

"You can cancel this one date. I promise, it's not the end of the world."

"Buffy…."

"No buts. You're eating with your family tonight."

Dawn huffed. "This is only because you don't like him, isn't it?"

"No, it's because I want to sit down and have a family dinner for once. And no shady boy is going to ruin that."

"He's not shady!"

"Dawn, I don't want to fight."

"Then don't. I'm going out with Elijah and you can't stop me." With that Dawn, turned and ran out the front door.

Angel walked into the kitchen. "What happened?"

"It's that boy, Elijah. He's got Dawn wrapped around his little finger." Buffy sighed. "There's something off about him. I can just feel it."

* * *

Dawn cried into Elijah's arms. She had taken a taxi to his apartment and ran up to him in tears. He held her tightly and shushed her gently. "She's trying to ruin my life!" Dawn sobbed.

"I know." Elijah said. "It's ok now, you're here…. With me."

"I don't want to go back there. I knew I couldn't tell her about you. She always gets like this."

"Then don't go back."

"What?"

"Don't go back. Stay here with me."

Dawn looked confused. "You mean, move in with you?"  
Elijah laughed. "No, silly. Just stay here. You don't have to go back there right now. You can stay with me as long as you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Would I ask if I wasn't?"

Dawn looked at her boyfriend. Buffy was wrong. Elijah was the sweetest guy she had ever met. There wasn't anything wrong or evil about him. She nodded and moved back into Elijah's embrace.

Elijah smiled to himself. Tonight was a victory for the Powers. Dawn was ready to break away from Buffy. Now he just had to get to the others somehow. Soon, hell on earth would finally begin and he would be a god. _With Dawn at my side._


	19. Old Friends,Old Memories,New Beginnings

A/N Ok, I have a plan as to where this is going, but it's going to take a while. So, between now and the big finale, it's going to be random incidencts and slightly progressing of the Elijah story arc. But I promise you (SPOILER ALERT) when Buffy comes to term, things are going to get big. Enjoy!

Chapter 19

"But Angel..." Buffy said.

"No buts. The last time around, you nearly killed yourself because you refused to take it easy." Angel said. He pushed down on Buffy's shoulders until she gave in and flopped on the couch. "I know you're worried about Shy and the Powers, but those babies are important. A lot more important than anything else. They could be the key to getting the Ancients back into this world, if Willow's theory is right."  
"Oh, I don't care about that. Well, I mean, I do, but... My sister comes in here, packs her things up, and leaves in the middle of the night and only leaves a note saying she's moved in with that guy!"

"Oh..."

"What 'oh'?"

"This is about Dawn."

"Of course it's about Dawn. She's putting unwarrented stress on me and that's not healthy. So, she needs to... She needs to at least call us."

"She's growing up."

"I thought she'd grown up and out of that rebellious stage."

"You know that never goes away."

"I wish it would."

"Honey, you need to calm down. Stress is bad. You know that."

Buffy couldn't help it. She blew up. Her voice reached a high pitch and she started to cry. "I can't help it that I'm so stressed. It's really not my fault that there's so much stress in my life right now. Don't you think that if I could be stress free, I would be? Stop telling me what to do, damn it!"

Angel mentally punched himself. He wasn't watching what he said. "I'm sorry baby." He tried to hug her, but she stood up and moved away from him, heading for the kitchen. "Buffy..."

"No." Her tears had dried up and she'd switched to anger. "You leave me alone. I'll go have these babies by myself and let you run the stressful family since your so damn peaceful. And where is Giles? I thought he was supposed to have been here by now." She disappeared into the kitchen.

Angel rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. Buffy's hormones were out of control. He guessed it was having twins that was making it worse than it was with Connor. You never know what would set her off and you never knew what mood she would be set off in. "Baby..." Angel followed her. "I'm sure that his plane just got delayed or he had trouble finding his rental car. You know how he is about those rentals." Angel gave a short, strained laugh, but Buffy was still pissed off.

"Angel, why don't you just go, I don't know... Do something constructive. I'm busy here." Buffy said, keeping her back turned to him.

"And what are you busy with?"

This time she looked at him with a supremely annoyed look. "I'm baking!" Sure enough, she had a recipe book out and was pulling ingredients out of the cabinets. "I thought Giles would like to come to a nice, home-cooked meal that he didn't have to sacrifice his home for. But if Mr. Bossy-Man-Of-The-House doesn't want me to, then..."

"All right. I'll go to the office and you stay here and bake to your heart's content." Angel turned and headed towards the front door. Just as he was about to step out, he heard Buffy call in the sweetest voice, "Bye sweetie, don't forget to bring home that paint for the twins' room. We're still painting that tomorrow!" Angel slapped his forehead and walked out.

* * *

Buffy was just pulling the rest of the red velvet cake out of the oven when she heard the doorbell ring. She put the hot cake pan down next to its twin and pulled off her oven mit. "Coming!" She called. Still wearing her little apron, she opened the door and beamed at Giles.

"My, you look... homely." Giles said.

Buffy embraced him tightly. "Oh, I missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too. Strength."

"Oh, sorry." Buffy moved out of the way. "Come in."

"This place certainly is large."

"It's great, huh? Come on. You'll be staying in Connor's little office. He's got a futon in there. It's all ready for you." Buffy led the way up the stairs. "Connor was just..."

"Are you baking?"

Buffy glared at him for a moment for inturrupting her, but then smiled and nodded vigorously. "Yup. I'm making supper tonight. That's just dessert. Thought I'd get a jump on it since it takes a while."

"Since when do you bake?"

Buffy opened the door and let Giles into the room first. "Since I decided that after these babies are born, I'm going to be a full time mom."

"Good Lord! What?"

"Yeah. There are plenty of Slayers out there to take over for me. And I figure once this thing with the Powers is over with, I can finally live a normal life... And raise my kids without the threat of some bad guy taking them from me."

Giles' expression softened. "I see." He reached out and moved a stray strand of hair from Buffy's eyebrow. "You'll make a wonderful mother. Those babies will grow up in a loving environment and become valuable citizens."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, Giles, they're not even born yet and you're planning on them becoming doctors or lawyers?"

Giles laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Hormonal. Typical pregnancy symptoms."

"Although a multiple birth isn't the same as a singular birth. There are..."

"Bigger risks for complications. I know. Would you like to help me cook dinner?" Buffy looked at her watch. "I want to get it on the table by six, so we better get to it."

"I would love to help."

* * *

"Hey Angel, where's Buffy?" Willow asked, walking in. Angel glared at her for a second and then marched into the office.

"She must be having more mood swings." Xander said. "He's glowering."

"I'd take it like a man." Spike said. "Ponce doesn't even have the right stuff to get a gal preggers and by some miracle, his woman gets knocked up, but he spends his time brooding in the office and complaining to anyone who gets trapped with him for more than three seconds at a time."

"Be nice." Faith said.

Connor walked into the lobby. "Hey guys. Where's dad?"

"In the office sulking." Willow said.

"Yeah, mom was pretty peeved this morning because last night, Dawn moved out."

"What?" Xander asked. Everyone's attention was now riveted on Connor.

"Yeah, she came back in the middle of the night, packed up her stuff as best she could and moved out. She left a note on her bed telling mom not to contact her until she contacted mom."

"Oh my God." Willow said.

"This is bad. No wonder Buffy's been having such bad mood swings today." Xander said. "I was going to eat a bag of chips the other day, but she blew up in my face and lectured me on how it wasn't nice to eat in front of a hungry pregnant woman and not offer her anything. All I did was open the bag."

"She's been pretty crazy over this whole Dawn thing, but with Grandpa Giles coming, she should be more relaxed."

"Here's hoping." Spike said. "Old Rupert always did know what to say to Buffy."

* * *

The door opened and Connor and Angel walked in. The air smelled delicious. It was thick with the smells of baked chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans, and fresh bread. Giles walked out of the dining room. "Hello there."

"Grandpa Giles!" Connor said, hugging Giles tightly.

"I see you made it." Angel said, shaking Giles' hand.

"Yes. It was a long trip, but I'm more than happy to be here." Giles said.

"How long are you staying?" Connor asked.

"I don't know really. I thought to stay only a week, but I think maybe you'll need some help around here with what Buffy's been telling me."

"Hello everyone." Buffy said cheerily, walking into the foyer. "Dinner's ready when you are."

Angel kissed her and then bent down and kissed her growing stomach. He decided not to comment on Buffy's cheery mood for fear that it might send her into a rage or a depression. "It smells great, honey."

"Giles helped."

"Is Dawn…." Giles started, but Angel subtly shook his head as a warning not to go there with Buffy. "Right then, let's eat."

* * *

Later that night, Buffy couldn't sleep, so she got up and wandered the halls. She found her way into the unfinished nursery and stood in the doorway. She imagined what the place would look like once she was finished decorating. "Hey."

Buffy turned to find Connor standing there. "Hey sweetie."

"Can't sleep?"

"No."

"Me either."

"What are you doing up here?"

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to come hang out in my little brothers' room."

"You're intent on having brothers, aren't you?"  
"You betcha. I wouldn't know what to do with a sister."

"Are you going to help out with the painting tomorrow?"

"When I get home from school. I've only got one class tomorrow, so I shouldn't be but a couple of hours."

"You've been such a joy to have around, Connor." Buffy sighed. "You know, you'd be three years old if Holtz hadn't of…."

"Yeah."

"You were a joy as a baby, too. The first couple of nights after we brought you home…. Those were rough. You were a little colicky, but after that…. You slept through the nights and you didn't fuss too much."

"I wish I could turn back the clock for you, mom. Give you the chance to raise me yourself."

"But I've got two second chances to get it right this time."

"Here's hoping dad doesn't have any long lost enemies showing up this time around."

"That's not funny."

"Sorry." Connor looked around the room. "So, are we painting it blue at least?" Buffy laughed and hugged her son.

* * *

"You doing ok?" Elijah asked.

Dawn sat on the couch in Elijah's apartment and smiled. "Yeah. I think so. It's just…."

"Different." He sat down next to her. "It's your first time living away from home. It's tough, but you get used to it."

"I'm just worried about Buffy."

"Don't be. She can handle herself."

"Yeah, but…. See, she had…. Complications with her last pregnancy. Lost the baby. This time it's twins, so…."

"She'll be fine." Elijah looked into Dawn's eyes and kissed her gently.

Dawn softened. "Yeah. You're right. I don't need to worry about her. She's got Angel to watch out for her."

"So, let's stop talking about her."

"Works for me." Dawn kissed Elijah, deeper this time. Elijah pulled her closer and Dawn knew where this was going. "Elijah, maybe we…."

"Everything's going to be fine. I've got you." Dawn melted into Elijah and they melted into the couch.

* * *

"You look…. Chipper." Shy said to his son as Elijah walked into the dark apartment.

"You could say that." Elijah said.

"What's the mood for?"

"Everything's going smoothly. Dawn's moved in with me and hasn't talked to her sister in days. She doesn't even go to the Hyperion to visit the others." Elijah took a swig of Pepsi. "And the best part is, the Watcher's in town and she doesn't even want to go visit him."

"There's more to it."

"Is there?" Elijah smiled coyly.

"You bedded the Slayer's sister."

"More than once, pop. She was shy at first, but woo! That girl can go. Just think when the Slayer finds out…. Dawn will never want to see her again!"

"I have to say, you're doing well."

"I need you to organize an attack on the Slayer."

"Why? Won't that upset the girl?"

Elijah paused and thought for a second. "No. I don't think it will."

"And what if it does? What if…."

"I don't want to kill the Slayer. I don't want to hurt her…. Much. I just want to test Dawn's loyalties. I want to make sure that if something bad happens, she'll stick with me."

"Very well."

Elijah smiled at his father and sucked down the rest of his Pepsi.

* * *

Buffy waltzed into the Hyperion, all smiles. "Good afternoon everyone."

"Hey Buffy!" Xander said. "How are things?"  
"Pretty good. Moving along nicely. Where's Giles?"

"In the office with Angel. I wouldn't go in there." Willow said.

"Why not?"  
"They're pretty heavy into research on Shy. Giles may be able to talk to some guys about how to kill him."

"Oh, then I should be in there."

"It will only depress you." Xander said.

"Fine." Buffy sighed and went to sit on the settee. "Has anyone heard from Dawn?"

"Not recently." Faith said.

"Little nipper just up and disappeared on us." Spike said.

"I noticed." Buffy said. "She hasn't called or anything. Giles is here and he hasn't seen her!"

"She's just rebelling. Give it time." Xander said. "I'm sure…."

A demon came crashing down from the balcony and landed next to Xander. It knocked Xander out cold and went after Buffy. Spike and Faith went to block it, but the thing barreled past them, knocking them away. Angel and Giles came out of the office just as Willow threw up a barrier around Buffy. Angel grabbed a sword and went after the demon. It wasn't concerned with anyone, but Buffy though.

It managed to penetrate Willow's barrier and grab Buffy by the throat. She kicked with all her might, but the thing hauled her in the air and tossed her across the room. She landed hard on her back against the stairs, causing her back to pop loudly as if it had been broken. Angel and Spike ran up behind the demon and sliced it into three parts before Angel dropped his sword and ran to Buffy.

"Baby, are you ok?" Angel asked.

"Angel…." Buffy said, starting to cry.

"Come on. Let's get you to the hospital." He picked her up in his arms and carried her out the doors.


	20. Preparing for Babies

Chapter 20 

"She's fine." Angel said into the phone. "The doctors are going to keep her here overnight, just to be sure." He looked at his wife asleep on the hospital bed. On the other side of her was a beeping machine that monitored her heartrate and the twins' heartrates. "Hey, has Dawn checked in with you?"

"We called and left her a message on her voice mail, but she hasn't called us back." Willow said.

"She hasn't shown up here either."

"Well, I'm sure she hasn't stopped caring about her sister."

"Has Connor gotten back from school yet?"

"Yeah. He was on his way over to the hospital about twenty minutes ago."  
"Ok. Listen, Willow, I'm going to go. I don't want to wake Buffy up."  
"Ok, Angel. Give her hugs and kisses from all of us."

"Bye." Angel hung up the phone and went back over to Buffy's side. He took her hand and gently rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

Connor walked in with Dawn behind him and Elijah trailing behind her. Angel motioned for them to be quiet and pointed out into the hallway. They filed back out and Angel shut the door. "Hey, is she gonna be ok?" Connor asked.

"She's got some bruising on her back and she was knocked around pretty good, so they want to keep her overnight to observe the twins."

"She's ok, though, right?"

"She's going to be fine." Angel looked at Dawn. "Haven't heard much from you lately."

"I've been busy." Dawn said. "So, if Buffy's ok, can I go?"

"Why did you even come if you didn't want to be here?"

"Connor came and dragged me here. I was headed to class."

"Don't you think that the twins and Buffy are a little more important than classes?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "So, can I go?"

"Your sister might want to see you."

"She's asleep." Elijah said. "We'll come back when she's awake."

"You stay out of this." Connor said. "You're not family."

"Don't talk that way to him." Dawn said.

"What's he even doing here?" Angel asked.

"Dawn wouldn't come without him." Connor said.

"I thought maybe there'd be a chance you all had grown up and maybe you would give Elijah a chance, but I can see that you're all still being babies about it." Dawn said.

"How do you expect any of us to act when you move out in the middle of the night and then don't call us for weeks?" Angel said. "You seriously need to evaluate your outlook on life. I don't think we're the ones that need to grow up."

"I can't believe you'd say that to me!"

"And I can't believe that you would even think that you're grown up!"

"I am."

"Oh, because sneaking out in the middle of the night and not talking to anybody about it is so grown up."

"I knew how you guys would react, so I skipped the fireworks and went straight to MY happiness."

"Dawn, we could have come to an agreement, but you're the one that chose to leave."

"And it's not like it's all my fault that I don't talk to anybody. I don't hear one peep from any of you."

"Maybe that's because you never answer your calls or check your messages." Connor said.

"Oh please, I have caller ID and not one of your numbers has shown up."

"Did it ever occur to you that he could be erasing them?"

"Why would Elijah do that?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Angel noticed the nurses noticing the commotion. "Dawn, take your new boyfriend and leave. Buffy doesn't need this stress."

"Fine!" Dawn turned and stormed away. Elijah glared at Connor and Angel for a minute and then turned and followed Dawn.

"Was it just me, or did you get the sense that he's not right?" Connor asked.

"I got that sense too." Angel said.

"Do you think mom's right? About him being a demon, I mean?"

"I don't know. But something's off."

"Angel?" Buffy called. Angel and Connor rushed into the room. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, baby. Connor and I were just talking." Angel said, kneeling down and taking his wife's hand. He pressed it to his chest and used his other hand to gently move her hair out of her face.

Buffy looked over at Connor. "Hey sweetie."

"Hey mom." Connor took Buffy's other hand.

"Boy, I'm getting the royal treatment. I've got my men taking care of me."

"Is there anything I can you? Are you thirsty?"

"A little."  
"Anything specific?"

"Orange juice?"

"Coming right up." Connor left the room.

Buffy looked back at Angel. "He's such a good kid."

"He takes after his mother." Angel said. He smiled at her and kissed her gently. Then, he laid his head on her growing stomach and listened to the two heartbeats of his babies.

Buffy watched him carefully. She was still in awe that she was pregnant, but it completely blew her mind that she was having twins. She was so sure that she and Angel were not destined to be parents. She had been so sure that because they had failed so miserably at Connor, this chance would never have come again. She was determined to make it work this time. "Angel?"

"Hmm?" He asked, his head still laying no her stomach.  
"I'm going to quit."

"What?"

"Being a Slayer. I'm going to quit." Angel looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "The others don't know it... Well, Giles does, but he's not telling anyone. But when these babies are born. That's it for me."

"Are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure. The way I see it... We failed so bad with Connor. He should be almost four years old right now. He should be a happy, healthy baby going to preschool soon. But this is our chance to make it work. This is our chance to raise these babies right. I'm not saying you have to quit. I don't want you to if you don't to, but there's plenty of Slayers out there who can take my place. My destiny lays with these babies now." She smiled. "I'm going to be a mommy."

Angel's eyes welled with tears as his heart took in her last sentence. "Yeah, baby, you are. And you're gonna be damn good at it."

"You think so?"

He laughed and kissed her stomach. "I know so." Angel lifted her shirt and massaged her stomach. "Daddy loves you guys. I can't wait to see you in another five months."

"I can't either." Buffy groaned. "God, I'm going to be bigger than the Hyperion."

"But you'll be overwhelmingly beautiful."

"Oh my God! You just agreed that I'm going to be huge!"

"But beautiful." Angel laughed until Buffy punched him in the shoulder. "Ow."

"Wimp." Connor said, walking back in. He handed Buffy her tall glass of orange juice.

"Ah, sweet, yummy juice of life." She sipped at it and then squinched her face up. "But a fully concentrated life."

"Sorry, they didn't have any with pulp in it. I promise, before you come home tomorrow, the refridgerator will be stocked with plenty of orange juice and yummy Ben and Jerry's in all flavors of the spectrum that you can mix to your stomach's content. Baskin Robins will be suing you for outdoing their 32 flavors."

Buffy laughed and then got deadly serious. "Boy, you better not be joking. It could be fatal."

Connor looked momentarily frightened. Angel laughed and ruffled Connor's hair. "Ask Willow to go shopping with you."

Connor breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, what about the nursery? We were supposed to paint that today."

"Doesn't look like it now." Buffy said. "We've got five months. No big."

"It looks like my pregnant mom."

"Even sounds like her." Angel said.

"But she's not blowing up over no spilled paint."

"Be careful." Buffy said. "I still could." Then she added pointedly, "Especially if there isn't Ben and Jerry's in the fridge when I get home."

* * *

Dawn was worried about Buffy, but she couldn't figure out why she didn't care like she should. Her neices and/or nephews could have died, but she had acted so stupidly. Maybe she should go back and say sorry. Maybe she should go check on her sister. As soon as class let out that's what Dawn was going to do. She was going to go see her sister in the hospital. She was going to buy her sister two teddy bears, one blue, one pink, and lots of balloons and surprise her at the hospital. Sure, she didn't regret her decision to move out. She was loving her new found freedom, but Dawn loved her family and missed them. She couldn't understand why they hadn't called her. According to Connor and Angel, they had tried numerous times, but she had never received one.

Dawn was a smart girl. She knew something was off about Elijah, but then again, all guys were off in her world in some way. Angel was a vampire with a soul. Spike was a vampire that used to be evil, but got a chip and then a soul and now he fights the good fight. Xander... well, he was Xander. Enough said. Her father was a lame absentee prick. Shall I continue? So she figured, if there was something off about Elijah, then everything was normal. She seemed to love him and that's all that mattered.

The bell rang and Dawn jumped up from her chair. She headed out towards the parking lot and towards the mini-Coup Angel and Buffy had gotten her for her last birthday. Elijah was there waiting for her.

"Hey." He said smoothly.

"Hey yourself. I thought you didn't have any classes today." Dawn said, putting her books in the passenger seat.

"I don't. Doesn't mean I can't come see my girlfriend." He walked over and kissed her on the cheek. "Have anything planned this afternoon?"

"Uh, yeah. Actually, I was going to head over to the library and start on this project for chemistry." Dawn lied, heading for the driver's side.

"Need any help?"

"Oh, no. I'm fine. I'll see you at home." Dawn kissed Elijah gently on the lips.

"Are you sure?"

Dawn completely forgot what she had been planning. "You know what? I can skip whatever it was I was doing."

"Want to go for lunch?"

Dawn smiled. "Sure."

* * *

"Welcome home, Buff!" Xander said as Angel shut the door behind him and Buffy. "How are you?"

"Decent." Buffy said. She had been released just this morning and she was so glad to be home.

"Everything ok with the twins?" Willow asked.

"Peachy with a side of keen."

"Well, I was thinking…. If it's ok with you and Angel…. Maybe you and I could go shopping for the babies….. And you."

"Why me?"

"Buffy, you're not going to be able to fit in your clothes once you get bigger."

"You're busting out of your pants as it is." Xander said. Buffy glared at him. "Not saying it's a bad thing." He patted her stomach. "It's a very good thing."

"You need maternity clothes."

"But they're all…. Pink…. And frilly. And people think your stomach is an open buffet to touch and coo at." Buffy said. "Can't we just…. Go online and shop?"

"By the time they get here, you'll be fitting into Angel's pants."

"I'm not fat!" Angel said. He realized the error of his words when Buffy delivered him a swift, hard punch to his sternum. "I didn't mean you." He wheezed.

"Come on Buffy. You still haven't bought cribs or changing stations or anything. The only thing you've bought is purple paint."

Buffy groaned. "All right. Can I at least change?"


	21. Distraction Leads To Discovery

Chapter 21

"I don't like it." Buffy said, sitting down the remote.

Giles glanced up from his book and Angel set down the newspaper. "Don't like what?" Angel asked calmly. The three of them resembled a normal family relaxing in the den. Connor wasn't home from school yet, but he was due anytime.

Well, all seemed normal until Buffy said, "It's been too quiet. Where's the demon carnage already?"

"What?"

"It's been almost two months since anything big happened."  
"Consider it a blessing." Giles said.  
"I can't. I feel like something big is going to happen."

"It is." Angel said. "You're going to have twins in three months."

"Exactly. I think the Powers are waiting for the twins to be born. I think that's when they're going to strike."

Giles seemed more interested in the conversation now and he set down his book. "Have you been having dreams?"

"No. Just... feelings. I think the Powers are going to do whatever it is they're going to do when these babies are born."

Angel sighed. "I don't know, Buffy, maybe they just realized that they're not going to win."

Buffy stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Boy, can we say denial?"

"She may have a point." Giles said.

"See, I'm pointy... And I'm also hot. Is it just me or is it hot in here?"

"It's just you, baby, but I can turn up the AC if you want."

"Please?"

Angel got up and Giles covered himself with a blanket. The front door opened and Connor walked. "Brr, it's freezing in here!" He set down his books and grabbed his coat out of the closet, walking into the den. "Hey, so what'd the doctor say? Do I have little brothers or little sisters? Or do I have a little brother AND a little sister?"  
Angel walked back into the room. "Buffy decided not to know what they were. She wanted it to be a surprise."

"What? I can't wait another three months. I need to know... Now."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Did you see Dawn today?"

"I saw her for all of point five seconds. She practically dove into a random classroom like she always does when she sees me coming. You know, I think he's putting a whammy on her."

"You think?"

"Yeah! I mean, she's always got this look in her eyes... Like she's not all there or something."

"Wishful thinking on your parts?" Angel asked. He looked to Giles for his input, but Giles had gone back to his book.

"No!" Buffy said.

"I've seen it. She's got this sort of, I don't know, glazed look going on when she's around Elijah. I managed to see her the other day when she hadn't been around him and her eyes seemed to focus better."

"Maybe it is a whammy then." Angel said sarcastically.

Buffy smacked his arm. "Something's got to explain her behavior. And I'm getting tired of it."

"Maybe we could set up a diversion." Connor said, ignoring his father.

"Like, how?"

"Well, I could watch Dawn for a week and Elijah for a week. Get to know their schedules and then you can catch Dawn when Elijah's not around. Get her talking... Break through the whammy."

"Or, we could have Willow try to break through it."

"But she'd have to know what kind of whammy it is. Wouldn't do us any good."

"Good point."

"I still think he's just filling her head with pointless thoughts." Angel said.

"Pointless? If they were pointless, she'd be sitting here with us and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Now there's a point well made." Connor said. He stood up. "I'm getting something to drink. You want anything, mom?"

"A glass of sweet tea?"

"Coming right up."

Giles stood up suddenly. "I think I'll join you. Would anyone like some strawberry scones while I'm up?"

"Me please!" Buffy said.

"I'm good." Angel said.

As soon as everyone was out of the room, Buffy wheeled on him. "What is the matter with you!"

"What?"

"You can't at least once, just once, take my side and see where I'm coming from! NO! You have to contradict every little thing I say. I know I'm right about this. And damn it, I'll prove it. You just watch." Buffy managed to pull herself off the couch and storm out of the room just as Connor came walking back in with the tea.

Connor watched his mother storm up the stairs and then turned to Angel. "I was only gone for a minute! What did you do?"

* * *

Connor leaned against Elijah's Corvette and checked his watch. In exactly three minutes, the little scumbag would come out of his building, head for his car, and drive over to pick up Dawn. After two weeks of following Elijah and Dawn, Connor had gotten to know their schedules almost better than his own. Buffy was across the campus waiting for Dawn to come out of class. They had arranged this and Buffy had managed to convince Angel to let her drive by herself. She had told him that the babies weren't due for another three months and she highly doubted that she would be attacked in daylight. Giles had backed her up and told Angel that the Powers were most likely waiting for the birth to strike. Of course, it had made Angel queasy when Giles had gone on to say that given Buffy's weak and incapacitated condition during child-birth, it would be the easiest and most likely time to strike.

The bell rang and Connor watched as students swarmed out of the building. Elijah kept his head down as he read a book and walked towards his car. Connor stood up and smiled broadly. "Hello Elijah."

Elijah's head shot up. "You. What do you want?"

Connor noted the look of fear that crossed Elijah's face as Connor stepped towards him. "You don't look happy to see me."

"You're not exactly the welcoming type."

"You just don't know me well enough."

"Dawn's tells me all I need to know."

"Why do I doubt that?" Connor sighed. "Man, I just came here to make peace. Thought you and I could head over to that coffee house down the road and chat it up."

"I have plans with my fiancee."  
"With your who? Since when?"

"I haven't asked her yet, but I was planning to. Tonight."

Yeah, that's gonna go over well with mom. Connor thought. He shook his head and looked at Elijah. "You've only known her a few months."

"I love her."

Once more, with feeling there. Connor smiled. "Come on man, it's only a few minutes. Besides, Dawn'll understand." Connor smiled and watched Elijah carefully.

* * *

Buffy inspected her nails as she waited for Dawn to get out of class. She had parked where Dawn could easily see her and hoped Connor could distract Elijah long enough. Just as Buffy looked up from a particularly interesting nail, Dawn came out of the building and headed towards the parking lot. It was a beautiful sunny day and Buffy had the top down on the convertible, so Dawn spotted her pregnant sister immidietly.

"What are you doing here?" Dawn asked. The usual over-kill with the venom wasn't dripping from her voice.

"Thought we could go out for a late lunch." Buffy said.

"I thought you weren't supposed to be out by yourself."  
"I won't be if you'll get in the car." Dawn looked a little unsure. "Look, Dawn, I spent all morning convincing Angel to let me go out by myself to come pick you up. Please don't make it all in vain."

Dawn waited a beat before she tossed her books and bag in the backseat. "How did you manage to talk your way into this one?" She asked as she hopped in the passenger's seat.

"Oh, you know, I am one with the guilt trip. Plus I convinced him that the Powers probably aren't going to attack today seeing as how we've all got this theory that they're waiting for these twins to be born."

"That's the new theory?"

"Yep."

"Interesting. So, what did you have planned?"

"I thought we could go out to eat and then maybe do a little shopping."

"Maybe I should call Elijah and..."  
"Dawn, this is a sisters' night out. No boys allowed. You don't see me calling Angel, do you?"

"He knows where you're at."

"Shows how much you know." Buffy put on her sunglasses with a smirk and turned on the ignition.

* * *

Elijah ran over to Dawn's building just in time to see her pull off in a black convertible with a blonde at the wheel. The Slayer had gotten to her first. That damn Connor had been there to distract him. They had planned this. This was unacceptable! This was not according to his plan. He dialed Dawn's cell phone, but she had it turned off. Probably forgot to turn it back on after she got out of class. No thanks to the Slayer. Those babies would be born soon and that's when the Powers would strike. Until then, there wasn't much Elijah could do except keep things on a tight rope with the Slayer's feelings.

Connor watched Elijah react to seeing Dawn drive off with Buffy. He was seething and Connor could feel the waves of anger rolling off Elijah from this distance. After a few minutes of seething, Elijah headed back to his car and got in. Connor made it over to his car and began to follow Elijah. Something was off about this guy and Connor was going to find out. He hadn't talked about this with anyone except Spike and Spike had encouraged him to find out on his own. He knew his parents would be pissed that he was doing this, but he had to know. He had to show that he and Buffy were right about this guy.

Elijah drove for almost an hour and a half and straight to the worst part of town. All the buildings here were run down and looking like they could cave at any minute. Connor didn't even think gangs would venture here. Deciding his car would stick out too much, Connor parked it in a dark, abandoned ally and hoped it wouldn't get stripped or stolen while he was gone. Quickly ascending to the rooftops, Connor easily followed Elijah's car, only having to jump to the street from one roof and run across to scale up to another roof across the street. Half an hour later, the sun had began to set and Elijah parked his car outside of a large, old, shaggy apartment building. Thankfully, there was an ally that Connor could jump down into and sneak around to the front of the building.

Elijah unlocked the front doors and headed inside. Connor used his supernatural speed to dash into the building before the door closed. He was doing good. Elijah had no clue that he was there. Connor waited a minute before he followed Elijah up the stairs. The guy went all the way to the fourth floor and took a right, walking down a purple shag carpeted hallway. Connor peered around the corner and watched as Elijah knocked on the door and then opened it. What Connor saw was something completely different from the entire neighborhood. The apartment Elijah entered was brand new, full of state-of-the-art equipment. Its walls were nicely plastered with no cracks visible anywhere. The carpet was brand new white with absolutely no stains or marks or anything of any kind. Then, Connor smelled something he thought had gone into hiding for good. The smell affected him so bad, he turned and ran out of the buidling, back to his car. This wasn't good.

As soon as he was on the interstate back towards the Hyperion, Connor whipped out his phone and dialed the number. "Angel Investigations." Willow said into the phone.

"Willow, I need to talk to dad." Connor said.  
"Hey Connor. Hold on." Willow put the phone to her shoulder and called for Angel. A minute later, he was transferred to his father's office.

"Connor, everything ok?" Angel asked.

"No."  
"What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I'm on the interstate right now headed your way. We've got trouble."

"What's going on?"

"Shy's back and Elijah's working with him."


	22. Working Order

Chapter 22

"Why don't you believe me?" Connor asked. He, Angel, Spike, Faith, Giles, Illyiria, and Xander were all in Angel's office at the Hyperion the next morning discussing what Connor had found last night. Buffy was out spending the day with Dawn. The sisters had stayed up all night and left early that morning to go eat breakfast and then had decided to stay out and shop all day. Willow was working on Dawn's cell phone, seeing if there was a whammy on it. "I'm telling you, I smelled Shy in there!"

"And I'm telling you that you're not as experienced as me." Angel said. "Shy smelled a lot like stale alcohol and old wood. And, well, you were surrounded by a lot of old wood…. And probably a lot of alcohol considering the neighborhood you were in."

"Spike, help me out here. You believe me. You're the one that told me to follow Elijah, see what I found."

Spike looked put on the spot by the glare coming from Angel. "Hey, kid, you should know better than to follow my advice. I'm a poet, not a shrink."

"You sent my son to follow that boy? Are you crazy? Of course you are! Do you know what could have happened to him?" Angel asked.

"You know what?" Faith stood up. "I think the kid's got a point. And why are you overreacting about it if this guy is so harmless?"

"I'm not overreacting."

"Oh really? So, this whole Jiffy-Pop at maximum heat 'tude is all over a harmless punk who may or may not be a demon?" Angel didn't say anything. "I think we should hear the kid out. He's just like his dad and I think he may be on to something. We've all sensed that there's something off with Elijah-I'm-so-creepy, maybe this is what it is. Maybe he's in good with Shy and the Powers and he's using Dawn to try and break up our happy little family."

"That's a good theory, Faith." Giles said.

"Thanks."

"So, what now?" Xander asked. "Do we go in, guns a-blazin'?"

"I don't think that would be wise." Giles said.

"Neither do I." Angel said.

"If anything, we need to pull some recon." Faith said. "Get the skinny on the situation before guns start blazin."

"Once again, Faith, good job." Giles said.

"I'm looking to claim that gold star any day now."

"So, I'm guessing I'm staying here." Xander said. "I'll just leave this little mission to the big dogs who can be a whole lot quieter than a normal human like me." He stood up. "I'm gonna see what Will's gotten on the whammy-coated Dawnster phone."

"Can you call Buffy and see when she's coming home?" Angel asked. "I'm a little worried..."

"She's fine, dad." Connor said. "Mom's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Xander backed out of the room and left the planning to the Supers. He wasn't going to call Buffy and have her raging hormones directed at him because of her worry-wart husband. "Hey, Little Red, whatcha got there?"

"A whammy-filled phone."

"Hello Mojo."

Willow chuckled. "This is wound with some intricate detailing! This guy really doesn't want Dawn contacting us or the other way around or both ways or even the outside world for that matter! Take a look at these chips! These don't exist."

"Yet there it is in all its exist-ancy glory."

"And these wires here, those aren't even wires."

"Show me the wires!"  
Willow rolled her eyes. "They're strings of tiny magick spells woven together to look like wires, but they're connecting this chip to this non-existent chip here."

"It's all shiny metal and snack food to me, Will."

"Sorry. This sucks! Unless I full on smash this phone to shiny little bits, this spell CANNOT be broken. Man, I wish Fred was here. She'd know more about this than I do."

"Nah. You're Willow. The brain to end all brains."

"I used to be."  
"Come on, Will! You've got the techno-witch thing going for you. This should be a piece of magicky pie for you."

Willow glared at Xander. "I'm really not in the mood. This thing's got me all pooped on the magick thinking. I tried everything I can think of to break this, but it's not working."

"Why do you not think to switch the phone for one of its exact replica?" Illyria asked behind them. Apparently she had drifted out of the Supers get together and found herself out here. "I have seen replicas of everything in store windows. Mass production is what this world's financial stability is based upon, is it not?"

"She's got a point." Willow said. She stood up and walked into Angel's office, interrupting him. "Angel, who's your carrier?"

"My what?" Angel asked.

"Where'd you get these phones from?" Willow held up Dawn's phone.

"Oh, um... Sprint, I think."  
"You got insurance on it?"

"Of course." Willow walked over to Giles' mug of tea and dropped the cell phone in it. "What are you doing?"

"De-whammy-ing Dawn's phone."

"By taking it for a quick swim in hot tea?" Faith asked.

"It's the only thing I could think of that would get a new phone for Dawn."

"What happened to trying to de-whammy it?" Connor asked.

"It went bust. Angel, call Sprint and tell them that you dropped your phone in tea and you need a new one, but I'll be coming to pick it up, ok?"

Angel looked mildly confused, but he nodded his head. "Ok."

"Xander, make sure that he does it."

"I thought I was coming with you." Xander said.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Boredom?"

"You stay. Hold down the fort. Make sure Angel calls."

"Make sure Angel calls who?" Buffy asked from the doorway. She was standing there with Dawn, each of them holding bags from a deli a few blocks away.

"Buffy!" Angel said, clearly startled and looking like he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"What's going on? Who are you supposed to call?"

"Sprint." Willow said. "He was going to try and set up a company account."

"Oh."

"Whatcha got in the bags?" Xander asked.

"Lunch." Buffy said proudly, holding up the bags with Dawn.

"You brought us lunch?" Angel asked, walking over to Buffy. "That's so sweet, sweetie."

"Ok, seriously, what's going on?"

"What would make you think anything was going on?"

"Well, let's see, shall we? Everyone I've ever known... that's still alive... is in this room talking in hushed tones and you just doubled up on a word."

"Did I?"  
"'That's so sweet, sweetie'? I'm not dumb."

"Damn, count on you to ruin a good surprise!" Spike said. All heads turned in his direction.

"Surprise?"

"Well, it's ruined now." He stood up and walked over to Buffy and Dawn, taking the deli bags.

"What surprise?"  
"Yeah, what surprise Spike?" Faith asked.

"The surprise baby shower we were planning. But now that she's gone and spoiled it..."

"Oh, I didn't mean to!" Buffy said. "Really I didn't." Tears started to form in her eyes. "I promise I'll act real surprised. Honest. Here... Dawn, come on." Buffy grabbed Dawn's hand. "Let's go away and pretend we never heard any of this."

"Buffy..." Angel started.

"Let her go, mate." Spike said. He waited for the doors to close before he continued. "Keeps her out of our hair to plan this recon thing."

"And why don't we want Buffy to know about this?" Xander asked.

"That's easy." Faith chimed in. "So she won't get all upset that Connor went by himself and we're going on a mission without her. We want those buns baked before they come out of the oven."

"Connor went where by himself?" Buffy asked from the doorway. Apparently, she hadn't left. "And what mission? I knew you guys were up to something."

Angel started to protest and start lying to her, but Dawn said, "Might as well fess up."

"We think we know where Shy is." Connor said. "And no, you're not going."

Buffy was silent for a minute, her mind obviously working to put together the pieces. "You went by yourself to find Shy? Are you mental in some way? You could have gotten killed! Or worse!"

"What's worse?"

"There are plenty more things worse than being killed!"

"Now, Buffy, calm down." Giles said.

"Calm down? My son, you know, the one that should only be a toddler right now, went out BY HIMSELF to find a demon that even I couldn't kill! And now you guys are planning on going out there to fight him without me?"

"We're not going to fight him." Spike said. "We're going to make sure its him first. Then we'll fight him."

"No! No fights."

'Why not?"

"Because! We don't want anything to happen to the babies. The Powers are waiting for these babies to be born. I know it. So, we'll be ready for them when I go into labor."

"But we don't know when that will be." Angel said.

"Uh, hello! Three months left on the clock."

"Not necessarily." Giles said. "I've been reading about multiple births and most of them arrive earlier than nine months. Many are born about six weeks early."

"No, my babies are going to be in there for nine months. Then they'll be born, we'll save the world, and we all live happy, normal lives."

"I doubt it's going to be that simple."

"Well, that's my plan."

"Fine." Willow said.

"Fine, what?"

"We won't go."

"You won't?"

"No. You're right. We don't want to stir up anymore trouble. It's coming and we'll be ready. Angel, why don't you get the Slayers to up their training. Faith, call the compound in England and get more Slayers over here. Giles, call Melinda and the coven and see what they can conjure up protection wise."

"You're serious?"

"Of course."

"Good." Buffy nodded. She took one of the deli bags and headed out into the lobby. What she hadn't heard was Willow telling everyone else telepathically to stay put. That recon was the best possible course to pursue so they could nip the Powers' best weapon in the bud before the babies were born.

* * *

Elijah sighed and watched his father pace the apartment. "You're sure about this?" Shy asked.

"It's what the Powers told me." Elijah said.

"The Slayer will die in childbirth?"

"Yes! For the millionth time, yes. The Powers are waiting for that to happen. The white hats will be so devastated that the attack will be swift and there will be no chance for a revolt from them. The world is theirs for the taking…. And ours of course."

Shy sat down finally. "This is good. This gives us time to rally our troops."

"Already covered."

"What do you mean?"  
"As we speak, the Slayer-training compound in England is being taken over. Slayers are dying by the second. And probably quite brutally, might I add."

"How did you accomplish this?"  
"The Powers. They put out a call to all demons in or near the area. As soon as the massacre is over, they'll be headed this way. There's no stopping this now. There's no way the Slayer's friends can stop us."

"How soon?"

"How soon for what?"

"How soon will the birthing process begin?"

"A month or less."

"Where is the Slayer's sister?"

Elijah bristled. The little brat had taken off with the Slayer and he hasn't been able to contact her since. The witch must have done something to his spells on the phone. His hold over Dawn was breaking. Instead of admitting what could be a failure, Elijah stood and stormed out of the apartment. Dawn had to come home eventually.


	23. Discovery Central

Chapter 23

"I can't wait till the babies get here." Dawn said. She and Buffy were curled up in the den watching _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. They were still in their pajamas and it was around three in the afternoon. Angel and Connor were at the Hyperion doing whatever it was they did at the Hyperion.

"Well, you're going to have to be here when the babies get here." Buffy shot at her little sister.

"I really don't know what came over me."

"That boy."

"He's really a great guy."

"Whatever you say. All I know is that until you met him, you were happy here."

"You know, I haven't called him in almost a week."

"And you're not going to start now. Besides, that scene where Legolas slides down the stairs on that shield is coming up."

"You can keep your Legolas, I want Aragorn."

Buffy laughed. "Pass the Ben and Jerry's!" Dawn picked up one of the containers. It was Karmel Sutra. "No, no, the other one." Dawn grabbed the purple container that said 'Phish Food.' "Yes!"

"You're going to be huge!"

"I'm already huge. Pass a spoon too."

Dawn handed her a spoon. "Anything else?"  
"The whipped cream looks good."

Dawn passed the whipped cream canister to Buffy and watched as the Slayer positioned it over the ice cream container. "You're going to spray it in the carton?"

"Why waste time doing dishes? It's easier this way." Buffy sprayed a ton of whipped cream in the middle of the carton, scooped up a large spoonful, and shoveled it in her mouth.

"God! I swear, pregnancy baffles me."

"That's why you shouldn't have kids until you're much older."

"Hey, do you think that they're planning on storming the place where Shy could be?"

Buffy shrugged. "I doubt it. They wouldn't want to risk the wrath of me. It's bad enough when I'm not hormonally driven."

"I don't know. I think they might."

"Let's just watch the movie and enjoy the quiet. Once these kids get here, it's not going to be quiet at all."

* * *

"We need to keep this quiet." Willow said. Everyone was convened in the office after getting the phone call about the compound in England. "Buffy would flip out if she found out."

"I can't believe we didn't see this coming." Giles said. "I feel like such an ass that I left."

"It's Buffy. You left for her." Angel said.

"All those girls. They never saw it coming."

"We didn't either."

"Yes, and we should have." Angel was silent. "I need to get back there. Try and salvage what's left."

"I've arranged for the survivors to come here. No need to go back there for nothing."

"This isn't nothing, Angel. This is war and it's begun."

"It began a long time ago." Angel sighed and moved around the desk to lean on the front of it, facing Willow and Giles in the chairs.

"What are we going to do?" Faith asked.

"My question in when are we going to hit Shy?" Connor asked.

"This is no time…." Giles started.

"This is the perfect time!" Connor snapped. "They've attacked us and we're just sitting around here talking about how sorry we feel. We need to do something! We need to hit the Powers where it hurts."

"And where's that?"

"Shy!"

"He's been in remission for quite some time now. I doubt he's their biggest weapon anymore."

"Maybe that's why he's been in remission." Xander said. "He's been growing a new arm and restocking the strength cans in aisle Hell."

"And what about Elijah?" Faith asked.

"What about him?" Giles asked.

"Well, he's connected to Shy. Why don't we just smash and crash his face and make him tell us everything?"  
"It's a good plan…."

"Except that I can't find him." Connor said. "His apartment's been cleaned out, there's no records of him being at school, and it's only been five days since I followed him."

"I think the Powers are setting up their pawns in this game." Illyria said. They all looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.  
"I believe that something more than just a birth will happen when the Slayer begins the stages of labor."

"You get visions?" Spike asked. "That wasn't on my chart."

"I do not get visions. But I feel the energies of this world shifting and preparing. The air around this city is becoming charged. It is filled with something I cannot describe with words."

"That doesn't sound too good." Faith said.

"No, it doesn't." Giles said. "Illyria, is there any way to feel the epicenter of this charge?"

"I have not ventured out into the city, but I could find out." Illyria said.

Angel cleared his throat. "Ok, Connor, Illyria, Faith and I will go to the place Connor found. We'll see what Illyria picks up on the way."  
"Does someone need to bring a chart?" Spike asked.

"No, no chart. This is strictly recon."

"Right."

"Willow, you work on souping up that protection spell on this place. Call the furies if you need help. Xander, can you be errand guy?"

"Always am." Xander said. "What errands?"

"Whatever Willow needs and when those Slayers start arriving, we'll need plenty of blankets and pillows."

"Got money?" Angel handed Xander his credit card. "What's the limit?"

"There isn't one. It's linked to one of my accounts in Europe."

"Nice."

"Necessities only."

"Scout's Honor."

"Giles..."

"I'll help Xander prepare for the Slayers." Giles said.

"Good." Angel started to walk out, but stopped. "Oh, and guys?" They all paused. "No one tells Buffy about this. If she calls, we went out shopping for more weapons."

"Got it." Willow said.

"What am I supposed to do?" Spike asked.

"Play guard dog." Angel said as they walked out of the office.

* * *

Connor led his father, Illyria, and Faith to the apartment that he had followed Elijah to. Illyria had mentioned that the energies were varying. They weren't stable. Connor stopped them just outside the building and they looked at Illyria.

"I feel nothing." She said.

"What?" Connor asked.

"Let's just go inside." Angel said.

"Big Blue and I'll cover the rear entrance. Meet you at the top." Faith said, heading around back with Illyria in tow.

"How does she know where it is?" Connor asked.

"She doesn't. She's just good at snooping and finding trouble." Angel said. "Lead the way, son."

Connor took the lead and quietly mounted the steps. There was no sign of trouble all the way to the highest floor. Faith and Illyria joined them a moment later from the rear stairs. They shook their heads. Connor pointed at the door that Elijah had gone in. Angel walked to the door and pressed his ear against it. There were no sounds behind the door. He looked at Connor as if to say, "You're crazy." Connor looked at him and walked up to the door. He didn't hear anything either. They motioned for Illyria to come and check the energies.

"There is nothing." Illyria said. "Not even a trace of demon energy left behind."

"He was here." Connor said.

"Calm down, Connor." Angel said. "Let's just knock on the door."

"Oh yeah, and when Shy comes and pulls off YOUR arm..."

"He's not. We'll just... run." Angel knocked on the door before anyone could say anything. After a few minutes of silence, he tried the knob. It was unlocked. Angel glanced at the others and pushed open the door. "Moment of truth." He stepped across the threshold with no problem.

"Guess that proves half my point." Connor said as they stepped into the empty apartment. As they looked around, they realized that this place was indeed too new to be part of the building. "And here's the other half."  
"Illyria?" Angel asked.

"I am sensing a faint trace of demon inhabitance here, but it has been covered over." Illyria said from the middle of the room.

"We need to find Elijah." Faith said.

"Why?" Angel asked.

"He's involved in all of this."

"What do you got?"

"Nothing. I'm saying let's find his ass and make him talk."

"I'm with Faith." Connor said.

"Of course you are, Smash-and-Crash." Angel said. "We don't know that he's..."

"Ok, stop right there." Faith said. "The kid here saw what he saw. He isn't lying. We're standing in a swanky, billion-dollar apartment in the middle of Skid Row and Big Blue over there is picking up something on her Demon-dar. Elijah's involved and you need to jump on the bandwagon here."

Angel sighed. "Fine. Faith and Connor, go. Find Elijah and bring him back here. Illyria and I can check out the rest of the buidling and the neighborhood, see what crawls out of the garbage."

* * *

Giles watched as Xander brought in the last of the bags from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. He and Willow were unloading the sheets and blankets and pillows and stuffing them in a large cabinet they had found buried in the basement. Spike burst through the doors loaded down with grocery bags. Xander had parked in the shade and Spike was able to help unload everything.

"There's still twenty more bags out there." Spike said, heading for the kitchen. "These bleedin' refrigerators better be working." He muttered.

"I can't believe how much money I spent." Xander said. "Wal-Mart was insane. I cleaned them out of Ramen Noodles and most of their soups."

"You did get milk, yes?" Giles asked.

"It's still in the van." Xander headed out of the doors just as Spike came back out of the kitchen.  
"Are they working?" Willow asked Spike.  
"Don't know. Didn't check." Spike said, walking outside.

Giles rolled his eyes. "I'll put the groceries up, you finish with the beddings and what not." He said to Willow, heading for the kitchen.

Willow sighed. "Sure Giles. I can do that."

"It's not healthy to talk to yourself." Xander said, walking in carrying more bags to the kitchen with Spike right behind him.

Willow finished putting up all the covers, blankets, sheets, pillows, and towels and headed to the kitchen. "Guys, what about clothes?"

"What about em?" Spike asked.

"Those poor girls probably don't have anything left. They're going to need clothes and shampoo and conditioner and..."

"I got it Will." Xander sighed. "Guess I'm going back out."  
"Gosh, are we having a party?" Dawn asked from the doorway.

"Dawn!" Willow gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Buffy's looking for Angel. He's not picking up his cell phone."

"Where is she?"

"Out in the lobby sitting down. She can't waddle too far. So, what's going on? Surprise party for the babies?"  
"Not exactly." Giles said.

"Then what?"

"Dawn... Something bad has happened." Willow said.

"About the babies?"

"No. You'll know soon enough, but we need you to distract Buffy. Keep her away from here at all costs. Can you do that?"

Dawn looked a little confused. "Uh, yeah... Sure. Where's Angel?"

"He's out with Connor and Faith and Illyria."

"Illyria? Why would he go out with her?"

"Dawn, please just distract your sister. We'll tell you everything later."

Dawn sighed. "Oh sure, give me the impossible job."

"Nah, it's easy." Xander said. "Just take her to Baskin Robbins with Angel's credit card." Dawn raised an eyebrow and then turned and headed out. Buffy was sitting on the settee looking at a large cabinet that had appeared behind the reception desk.

"What's that all about?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know." Dawn said.

"Go check it out for me."

"It's probably just more weapons and magick-y type stuff."

"Please."

"I'm hungry. Let's go to Olive Garden and get you an all you can eat pasta bowl and all of the breadsticks and salad you three can handle."

"Sounds yummy."

"Then let's go."

"Not without Angel and Connor." Buffy crossed her arms and rested them on her stomach. "I'm not leaving till Angel and Connor get here."

Dawn sighed and headed back to the kitchen. "She won't leave." Willow, Spike, Xander, and Giles stopped unloading groceries and looked at Dawn. "She turned down the all-you-can-eat pasta bowls at Olive Garden because she doesn't want to go without Angel and Connor."

Willow sighed. "All right, I'll call Angel and get them back here."  
"Where'd they go?" Buffy asked from the doorway.  
"You know, for someone who's balance has to be off, you sure can sneak." Xander said.

"Where'd they go?" Buffy repeated, ignoring Xander.  
"They went out shopping." Giles said. "For more weapons."

"What's with all the food and that cabinet out there?"

"We're just preparing."

"For a nuclear winter?"

"We want to have all of our bases covered." Willow said.

"Whatever. When's Angel and Connor coming back?"

"Right now." Angel said, walking in behind them.  
"Boy, you superheroes have the best timing." Xander said.

"What's going on? Why are you here?" Angel asked Buffy, ignoring Xander.  
"I came to find you." Buffy said.  
"Why?"  
"I was worried."

"I'm fine."

"Where's Connor?"

"He's out with Faith."

"Good, let's go and get him and go out."  
"Go out where?"  
"The Olive Garden. I want pasta and breadsticks and salad... And for some odd reason, a Shirley Temple."

"I can't right now..." Buffy glared at Angel as tears started to well up in her eyes. "But, I'm sure I can get Willow and Giles to cover everything." That perked Buffy up. She was all smiles now.

"Good, then let's go." She started to drag Angel out of the kitchen and towards the lobby.

"Now?" Buffy turned and glared. "Is as good a time as any. Let's go."

Just as Buffy reached the lobby, the main doors swung open and six teenager girls walked in. They were all haggard and tired looking and seemed as if they were on the brink of either falling over or crying. Maybe even both. "Oh my God." Buffy said. She rushed over to the girls, obviously sensing they were Slayers. "What happened?" The girls looked confused. They looked at Buffy strangely. Buffy turned and looked at Angel. "What happened?"


	24. The Day You've Been Waiting For

Chapter 24

Willow, Xander, Spike, and Illyria all sat in the lobby and watched through the office window as Buffy paced in front of the desk and yelled at Angel and Giles. Dawn was upstairs helping the newly arrived Slayers get accustomed to their surroundings. They were waiting for Buffy to finish with Angel and Giles before she came out and started yelling at them. All of them were silent, contemplating whether they made the right decision on not telling Buffy themselves. It was Spike that broke the silence.

"Ten bucks and a pack of cigs says that Blondie goes into labor before she gets to us." He said.  
"That's really not funny." Willow said. "If she goes into labor, that means all hell is going to break loose."

"Is he even trying to calm her down?" Xander asked.

"I think he's trying, but she's pissed." Spike said.

"Where's Connor and Faith?" Willow asked.

"They went to find the boy." Illyria said.  
"What boy?" Spike asked.

"Elijah."

"What about my boyfriend?" Dawn asked behind them.

"You're still dating him?" Xander asked.

"Well, I'm not sure considering I haven't called him in over a week. I can't seem to find my cell phone."

"Men, who needs them anyway. You're better off on your own. Take some Dawn time to grow into yourself."

Dawn shook her head and looked in the office. "Damn, she's going to blow a gasket and go into labor."

"S'what I was saying." Spike said.

"I'm going in there."

"You should just..." Willow started.

Too late. Dawn opened the door and Buffy's angry voice floated out into the lobby. "I can't believe you would keep something like this from me! I'm the one trying to run this show, but apparently, I'm wrong."

"Buffy..." Angel said.

"No, Angel, you should know better. When things like this happen, I should be the first person you come to. Those are my girls out there. I'm supposed to be protecting them, but if the people I'm supposed to trust to tell me what's going on don't do just that, then I can't protect those girls. Now look at what's happened. We've lost almost the entire Slayer line, we have no idea where Shy is at, and Dawn's been dating the enemy."

"What?" Dawn asked.

Buffy didn't hear her. "You better damn well hope that Connor and Faith find him without anything happening to them. If he's working with Shy, that makes him even more dangerous than we thought. Who knows what all he's done to Dawn."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dawn yelled. "Elijah's not evil!" Angel and Buffy looked over at Dawn. "How could you even think such a thing? It's just because he's my boyfriend, isn't it? You don't like him because I do."

"Dawn, that's not it at all and you know it." Buffy walked over to Dawn and shut the door, blocking the hearing of the spectators in the lobby. "Sit down." She helped Dawn to sit in one of the chairs and then she scooted into a chair across from her. "You said it yourself that you didn't know what had come over you."

"I don't know why I said it..."

"Yes you do. You said it because you knew there was something wrong with you when you were with him."

Dawn shook her head and tried to hold back her tears. "I thought he was such a great guy."

"That's what he wanted you to believe." Angel said gently, coming over on Dawn's other side.

"You didn't noticed anything strange when you were with him?" Buffy asked.

"Not that I can think of." Dawn said. "He was so nice and gentle and..." She sighed. "And his kisses made me forget my problems." Dawn paused. "Wait."

"What?"

"His kisses."

"Ok, we don't need the poetry and the graphics..." Angel said.

"No! I really did forget my problems when I kissed him. I can't believe I never thought of it."

"You forgot things when he kissed you?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. I remember thinking about how worried I was that you had been in the hospital and I was even planning on coming to see you, but then he kissed me and... I forgot. All I wanted to do was be with him after that."

"It was the same when you came to the hospital, too?" Angel asked.

"What?"  
"When you came to the hospital... You wanted nothing to do with any of us. Especially Buffy. You acted like such a..."  
Dawn looked away and Buffy caught on. "Oh, Dawnie..."

"What?" Angel asked.

Buffy hugged her sister. "I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Dawn asked.

"What's going on?" Angel asked again.  
"Angel, just... Could you give us a minute?" Buffy said.

"But..."

"Angel, please?" He nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him. Buffy turned back to Dawn. "I'm not mad."

"Just disappointed, right?"  
"Well, only a little." Buffy sighed. "Dawn, I know what you're going through. Been there done that myself. And I won't let him hurt you. Hey, you're my Dawn. I jumped off a really high tower to save you, remember?"

"I'd like to forget."

"Well, then, just kiss Elijah." Dawn snorted. "Now listen, if Elijah IS working with Shy, Faith and Connor could be in trouble. Is there anything you can think of to help us find him quickly?"

"Like what?"  
"Like where does he hang out? What does he do? We know that his apartment's been cleaned out and there aren't any records of him at the school."

Dawn looked away. "I don't... I don't know. Oh! Um, there's this really old theatre... The, um, the Los Angeles Theatre, I think it's called. He mentioned that he really liked it there."

Buffy nodded. "It's a start."

"Buffy... What if he is working with Shy? He knows everything I do. He could hurt you and the babies."

"Listen Dawn, I promise nothing is going to happen." Just then, Buffy let out a scream and grabbed her stomach.

"Buffy!" Dawn jumped to Buffy's side just as Angel ran in.

"What's going on?" He asked, grabbing Buffy to hold her up.

"I don't know!"

"No!" Buffy screamed as her legs gave out.

"Baby, talk to me. What's wrong?" Angel asked desperately. All he got was another scream. "That's it." He picked her up into his arms and rushed into the lobby.

"What's going on?" Spike asked.

"I don't know." Angel was having trouble holding Buffy. She was thrashing and grasping at her stomach. "We're going to the hospital."

"What about Connor and Faith?" Willow asked.

"Call them and let them know what's going on. Dawn..."

"I'm coming with you." Dawn said.

"Good. Let's go." As Angel rushed out, he noticed the newly arrived Slayers standing on the second floor landing. "Keep an eye on them." He called back before the doors shut.

* * *

An hour later, Willow, Xander, Spike, and Illyria in the guise of Fred ran into the hospital waiting room. They didn't see Angel anywhere, so they went to the nurse station. "Excuse me?" Willow said.

The nurse sitting at the computer looked up at them. "Hello. How can I help you?"

"What room is Buffy Summers in?"

"Summers?" The nurse typed on her keyboard for a minute. "Oh."

"What?"  
"She's on the fourth floor. The maternity ward." The group started to head up there, but the nurse stopped them. "You can't see her. She's in a private room and only her husband is allowed in there. I'll call up there and see if they can get him."

Ten minutes later, the elevator doors opened and Angel walked out. Willow was the first to notice him. "Angel..."

"Where's Connor and Faith? And where's Giles?" Angel asked.

"They're still looking for Elijah. Giles is at the Hyperion with the Slayers. Where's Dawn?"

"She's in the waiting room upstairs." Angel looked around. "Come on." He led them into the elevator.

"What's going on?" Xander asked.

"She's in labor."

"What!"

"It's irregular though. Kind of like what happened before..."

"We remember." Willow said.

"They're prepping her for surgery right now. She has to have a C-section since Connor was one."

"Is she going to be ok?" Xander asked.

Angel looked down at the floor and shook his head. "I don't know. They said there's something wrong with her. In was in medical terms, but I didn't understand it."

"Now my question is: are WE going to be ok?"

"What?"

"Buffy's having those babies today. Doesn't that mean the Powers should be raining down hell?"

"In thoery."

"Maybe they don't know yet." Spike said. "It's possible this took them by surprise too and they're scrambling around trying to rally the troups." The elevator doors opened and everyone looked down the hall and out the window where it was raining fire. "Then again..."

"Oh God." Willow said.

"Angel!" Dawn ran up to him. "What's going on? It just started."  
"Buffy's having those babies, that's what it is." Xander said as something incredibly large flew by the window. People around them in the hallways and in the rooms with windows facing the outside world began to panic. There was screaming and crying and loud shouts all around them. "That's not good."

Angel grabbed Spike. "Get out there. Find Faith and Connor. This thing's started and it's not going to stop."

"I'm going too." Xander said.

"No. You go to Giles and get the Slayers." Xander nodded and started to get in the elevator. "Take the stairs. You never know when the power could blow." Spike and Xander ran towards the stairs.

Illyria changed from Fred to her red leather clad self. "I will go with Spike." Then she disappeared.

"Willow, I want you here." Angel said.

"Aren't I needed..." Willow started.

"No. I need you here to protect Dawn."

"Oh, ok."

"Take Dawn into the waiting room and don't let her out of your sight. And try to get a hold of Connor and Faith. Let them know Spike's out there looking for them." With that, Angel headed back towards Buffy's room. The doctors were scrambling around frantically, trying to finish prepping Buffy for surgery. Buffy looked so tiny and helpless against the hospital sheets and medical equipment. She saw Angel and reached out her hand to him. He rushed over to her and grabbed her hand. "Hey."

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"You know what's wrong. But don't worry about it, ok? You just worry about getting those babies into this world safely."

"We've gotta move." One doctor said, pushing Buffy's bed towards the doorway.

Angel jumped out of the way, then rushed to follow them down the hall. The doctors and nurses stopped him, but he was persistant and they finally gave him some hospital scrubs. He quickly put them on over his clothes and ran into the room. They had thrown a sheet up, blocking Buffy's view of anything below her chest. She winced in pain, but the spinal tap they had administered earlier took the edge off of it. One of the nurses brought a stool up next to Buffy so Angel could sit down and hold her hand.

"Hey beautiful." He said quietly. "You're doing good." Buffy just gripped his hand and closed her eyes. Angel decided to see what they were doing, so he stood up and peeked over the curtain. One of the doctors was making an incision across her stomach. Just as he finished the building shook as if something large had smashed against it. Buffy's eyes grew wide and Angel gripped her hand. "Shh, it's ok. We're safe." He stroked her hair and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"Daddy, here comes the first one." The doctor said.

Angel peeked over the curtain again and watched as the doctor brought out the first of the tiny babies. He sucked the fluid out of the baby's lungs and Angel's second son began to scream and cry. "It's a boy." Angel said to Buffy. "The first one's a boy!" A tear coursed down Buffy's cheek and she smiled. Angel watched as they cut the umbillical chord and whisked the baby off to be cleaned and put in intensive care since he was seven and a half weeks early. Then, the doctor reached in and pulled out the other twin. Once again, the doctor quickly cleaned out the baby's lungs and Angel's first daughter began to cry. "The other one's a girl!" Angel cried. "Baby..." Angel looked down to see that Buffy had closed her eyes and she was starting to look a little grey. "Baby?" Suddenly, chaos broke around him. The doctors began rushing around and two nurses pushed Angel out of the room. "What's going on? Buffy! What's happening?"

"Sir, you have to leave." One of the nurses said.

"What's wrong!"

"Wait out there." The nurses shoved him out of the room and locked the doors. All Angel could see through the small windows was the nurses and doctors rushing around Buffy frantically. One of the nurses came out and instructed Angel to wait in the waiting room. He started to protest, but she said there was nothing he could do, so he should go wait for the doctor.

* * *

Spike and Illyria made it outside and discovered the city had been taken over by fire and demons everywhere. The demons were attacking the humans that tried to run away and there were a few vampires out now that the sun had gone down. Xander had made it to his car and had barreled out of there towards the Hyperion. "Well, Blue, let's go. These people aren't going to save themselves." Spike said, throwing himself at a demon twice his size.

All around them, people screamed and ran. Some were bleeding from the neck, others were bruised and bloodied on various parts of their bodies. Spike had no clue where all the demons were coming from, but there were a lot of species he'd never seen before. One demon he took down was a teal color and had eyes on its fingers, a mouth where it's nose should have be, and weird, razor-sharp fins on each side of its head where its ears should have been. The next demon that he battled had tentacles instead of arms and legs. The thing beat Spike around for a while, but Illyria was suddenly there, ripping out the thing's heart.

They weren't even a block from the hospital when Connor's Mustang came screeching to a hault in front of them, knocking three vampires out of the way. Faith and Connor jumped out and got to work. "How's mom?" Connor called.

"Don't know!" Spike yelled back. "She was going in for surgery when we left."

"I gotta get up there!"

"Connor!" Spike called, but the kid took off.

"I hope Giles is having a better time than we are." Faith said.

* * *

Xander had run over countless demons and vampires on his way to the Hyperion. They were everywhere. He was gald he was driving a nice, big SUV and not a little sports car. He smashed into the garden through the gates and came to a screeching hault just before he hit the fountain. There were two demons in the garden headed for the back doors. Xander pulled his sword out of the back seat and jumped out. Instead of shooting off a witty comment, he decided to just slice and dice. They were tough, but he managed to get the best of them and he ran into the lobby.

Three Slayers barricaded the door while Giles and another Slayer hauled a large steel beam from the cage downstairs to put through the door's handles. There were a few dead demons and lots of piles of dust all over the place. The other two Slayers stood at the bottom of the stairs to the garden holding weapons at the ready. They almost took Xander's head off, but they stopped themselves just before either weapon could touch him. Ignoring them, Xander ran over to Giles.

"This is terrifying!" Giles said.

Xander took the end of the bar Giles was carrying and helped the Slayer guide it through the door. "Tell me about it. You should see it out there."

"Yes, well, I'd much rather not. It's bad enough in here."  
"I can see that. Any other Slayers show up?"

"I'm afraid this is all that was left of them at the compound."

"But there're more out there, right?"

"I would assume. The ones who'd had training before they became Slayers were sent back to their homes to defend them. I can only hope they're faring well enough on their own."

"Well, if this is the big battle, it won't matter, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"If we defeat the Powers, won't that mean there won't be anymore evil? They won't need to be Slayers."

"It's a theory. A theory I'd like to test, but at this rate, it doesn't look like it's going to happen." Giles led the way back to the basement to get another steel bar for the other doors. "Kasey, please go around and check the other doors. Make sure they're locked tight and barricaded. Chelsea, go with her." Xander followed Giles to the basement. "How is Buffy?"

"She's in labor."

"I figured as much."

"Last I heard, she was headed for surgery to get the babies out."

"What about Angel?"

"He wasn't leaving her."

"No, he wouldn't. And Dawn and Willow?"

"They're at the hospital too. Willow's protecting Dawn and Spike and Illyria went out to find Connor and Faith."

"I only hope they're all ok."

* * *

Angel stood with Dawn and Willow in the waiting room. People were panicking all around them, but the three of them weren't paying any attention to any of it. They didn't know what was going on with Buffy, they had no clue if Connor and Faith were ok and if they'd found Elijah, and the fates of everyone else that mattered to them were unknown as well. Their cell phones were no use. The rain of fire had knocked them out. Things were looking really hopeless until Connor came running in.

"Where's mom?" He cried.

"She's in surgery." Angel said. "She's... I don't know. I don't know if she's ok."  
"She's not." A voice said behind Connor just before he was sent through the windows across the room.

"Connor!" Angel cried.

"Elijah!" Dawn yelped.

"You should have just stayed with me Dawn." Elijah said. His features were changing. They were turning purple and starting to look like Shy's features. "It was the right side. I would have made you my queen. Now you're going to die just like your sister."

"What?"

Angel's face changed and he charged Elijah. Willow and Dawn rushed to the window to see if Connor was ok. He was bloody, but he was up and fighting his way back to the hospital entrance. Dawn looked over at Willow and the witch's eyes had turned completely white and her hands started to crackle with energy. She turned to face Elijah and there was Shy, completely restored with a new arm. Angel had pushed Elijah out of the way and had gone after Shy. Elijah got to his feet and glared at Dawn. He started towards her and Willow let a large, white fireball fly towards him. Elijah flew backwards through a wall, his arm on fire.

"Dawn, go to Buffy's room." Angel yelled. "Check on her."

Dawn nodded and ran out of the room. Elijah grabbed her ankle and she fell to the floor, slamming her chin on the tile floor. The impact split her lip and blood flowed freely down her chin. She let out a scream as she realized that her pants' leg had caught on fire from Elijah's arm. Willow was there suddenly, kicking Elijah in the face and knocking him away. Dawn slapped at her pants' leg and put out the fire and then jumped to her feet, wiped away the blood, and ran for Buffy's room. The doors were still locked, but she could see through the windows. To her dismay, Elijah had been right. They were covering her sister up with a sheet and the doctors were removing their gloves. Dawn let out an anguished scream and collapsed to her knees, sobbing.


	25. Not So Happy Ending

Chapter 25

Buffy looked around her and realized she was in the Ancient Ones' dimension. She turned around and came face to face with a beautiful woman with long brown hair. She was clothed in a shimmering white toga and her skin was a milky white. "Welcome Buffy." She said.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked. She looked down at herself and realized she was clothed just the same.

"You are here to finish the war."

"What war?"

"The one that is raging now in your home world." The woman held out her hand. "Come, there isn't much time."

"For what?" Buffy took the woman's hand, trusting her completely for some reason.

"For your innitiation into our fold."

"Am I dead?"

The woman looked sad suddenly. "Yes, young one, you are dead."

Buffy pulled her hand away. "No!"

"Yes. It is the only way to end the Powers' reign."

"Why?"  
"You must become one of us. It will increase our powers to a measure beyond imagination and the Powers will be demolished. The Ancient Ones will be restored and you will reign as one of us."

"But I can't raise my twins."

"It is a heavy priace, I admit."

"One I'm not willing to pay. Send me back."

"We cannot."

"Then you're no better than the Powers." The woman looked taken aback. "You talked about giving me happiness, but this isn't it. Raising my family is happiness to me. Please."

The woman looked away from her. She seemed to be struggling with something and then she said, "Stay here." Buffy watched as the woman walked away and then disappeared. Tears streamed down her face at the very thought of her twins growing up without their mother. She would never become an Ancient if that was the price. She had to be there to raise her children.

"They need their mother." She whispered, looking down at her feet.

When Buffy looked back up, she was in a room made entirely out of white marble. There was a round table in the middle of the immense room and around it sat 13 women and four men all dressed in the same shimmering togas and all of them had the same milky white skin. Buffy realized their skin also shimmered as if it had been showered in glitter. The woman... Desidre was her name, although how Buffy knew that was beyond her... walked forward from her seat. Buffy didn't think she had seen her stand.

"What would you have us do?" Desidre asked. "If we send you back, your world will fall. Your friends will die. Your husband will die. Your children will die."

Buffy shook her head. "I have to try."

"You will fail. The Powers will reign supreme with nothing holding them back. You must become one of us. We do not wish to cause this pain for you, but it is the only way."

"You said I would have happiness. You said these babies were to bring on a better future."

"Yes. And they have."  
"You planned this! You knew I would die when those babies were born."

"We are sorry. It was the only way."

"Then find another way. I can't leave my babies alone."

"They are not alone."

"They need their mother. Please."

The Ancients turned away from her and talked amongst themselves. Buffy strained to hear them, but their voices were lower than even her Slayer hearing could pick up. It made her wonder how they even heard each other. Finally Desidre rose and walked over to her. She took Buffy's hands. "You must become one of us, or the war will only end with your world's demise. However, we are willing to make a compromise."

"What? Anything."  
"We will allow you to return to your world once it is saved. There will be no more demons, no more Slayers... Only humans. The world will be restored to what it once was before the Powers ruled. Magic will be contained and all references to dark magic will be erased."

"I can live with that."  
"However, you will return to us once the twins have reached their 18th birthday. That is the only compromise."

"Will I be able to return to my world for the important things? Like, college graduations and their weddings? Their first children. I want to be able to see my grandchildren."

"And you will. But it will be only through the eyes of others. You can watch your world from here through others eyes."

"But..."

"Buffy, we understand your hesitation. There really isn't much time."

"21st birthday."

"What?"

"Let me stay until they turn 21. It's the least you can do."

Desidre turned to look at the others. They each hesitated, but then, one by one, they nodded their heads in agreement. "Very well. The day after the twins' 21st birthday, you will return to us."

Buffy sighed. "Agreed."

"Come, there isn't much time left."

* * *

Angel looked up at Shy towering over him. The vampire with a soul had been beaten down like never before. Connor and Willow were unconcious across the room. Elijah had beaten Connor and Shy had managed to get past Angel long enough to almost kill Willow. Angel hadn't seen Dawn since he had sent her to Buffy's room. He didn't know what had happened to Spike, Illyria, Xander, Giles, Faith, and the others. For all he knew, they could be dead already. The doctors and any patients that could walk had long ago left the building. They had abandoned everyone else to their fate. As for Angel's fate...

"Any last words, vampire?" Shy growled.

"Go to hell?" Angel said, struggling to his feet.

"No thanks, but it sounds like a great place for you to go."

"Been there, done that."

"I'm sure they've missed you." Shy went to punch Angel, but something stopped him. He was suddenly frozen. Angel moved forward a little and saw that only Shy's eyes moved, and they looked panicked. Suddenly, Shy doubled over in pain and let out a scream. Then Elijah ran in, screaming and grabbing his head. Connor and Willow awoke with a start and watched as Elijah and Shy suddenly exploded and turned to ash.

"What's going on?" Connor asked.

"I don't..." Angel started, but he let out a scream and grabbed his head.

"Angel!" Willow yelped, holding one of his arms to keep him steady.

Connor ran over to Angel's other side and grabbed him. "Dad, what's wrong?" All Angel could do was scream and throw himself backwards onto the floor. "Dad!"

* * *

Outisde, all the demons and vampires were having seizures and screaming at the top of their lungs. Faith dropped to her knees with a gasp as she felt something invisible rip out of her. Spike was rolling on the ground in front of her, screaming and cussing as he held his head tightly. Faith had no idea what was going on. She tried to help Spike to his feet as he thrashed, but she had a hard time lifting his weight. _Hold on_, she thought. _That's not right_. All around her, the demons exploded and disappeared in clouds of different colored ashes. She looked over at Illyria who was screaming and then the blue demon exploded in a cloud of blue and red ashes.

* * *

Giles and Xander watched out the windows of the third story of the Hyperion as the demons exploded and turned to dust of all colors. The Slayers all gasped and wavered as if they might fall. They had no clue what was going on, but something big was happening. Giles had a nagging feeling that it had something to do with Buffy.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Xander asked suddenly.

"What?" Giles asked.

"Buffy. She's gone, isn't she?"

Giles looked away sadly. At the bottom of his heart and soul, through every fiber of his being, he knew that his Slayer was dead. He embraced Xander tightly and they began to cry.

* * *

Dawn watched over her twin neice and nephew as the choas around her died off. After she had witnessed Buffy's body be wheeled off to the morgue, she had run to the nursery. The nurses hadn't left and they invited Dawn in away from the rampaging demons. Three demons had burst in and Dawn and two other nurses had tried to fight them off. They had thrown whatever they could spare that was heavy at the demons. Then Elijah had found her and shattered the observation window, trying to get at Dawn or the twins. She hadn't known who he was after, but she had thrown herself in front of the twins, guarding them with her life. Elijah was almost on her when he had grabbed his head, screamed, and ran off. Just after that, the demons in the nursery had screamed and then they had exploded into blue and purple and green and red ashes.

Dawn looked around her as the nurses checked on the screaming babies. Surprisingly, the twins were silent, watching Dawn and everyone else around them intently. They each had blue eyes that sparkled with flecks of green. Both of them were so beautiful. They had blonde, fine hair and cute little rose-shaped mouths. Their cheeks were pudgy, baby cheeks and they had all ten fingers and all ten toes. They were so small, though. Dawn assumed that's because they had been born early and premature babies were always small. She also recalled that twin babies were always small.

A nurse walked over to Dawn and began to check on the twins. "These babies are so remarkable."

"Aren't they?" Dawn asked.

"It's too bad about their mother." Dawn looked away. "She was your sister, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm really sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"Just make sure those babies are ok."  
"Oh, they most definitely are. Most premature twins would have to be put in an incubator and kept under observation for a couple of weeks, but these two... They're little miracles, that's what they are."

Dawn smiled. "Yeah, you have no idea."

"Dawn!" Willow yelled from down the hall. "Dawnie!"

"Willow." Dawn called as Willow ran past.

The red head stopped and looked at Dawn. "You'll never believe it!"

"It's over." Dawn said. "I know."

"Well, that too, but... Angel..."

Just then, Angel walked down the hallway and stopped just in front of the smashed window. Dawn looked at him and realized what had happened. "Oh my God!"

"Yeah!" Willow said.

"Angel, you're..."

"Where's Buffy?" Angel asked.

"She's..."

"Where is she?"  
"I'm sorry." Dawn walked up to Angel. "She... They couldn't stop the bleeding."

"No." Angel shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" He collapsed onto the floor and sobbed into his arms.

Dawn walked over to Angel just as Connor came around the corner. He saw Angel crying and then he saw Dawn and Willow beginning to cry. He realized what had happened and shook his head. "Mom?" Dawn looked at him sadly. "No! Mom!" Connor began to cry. Faith and Spike ran in. The happiness of the two vampires with a soul aquiring their Shanshu was short lived as they grieved for their lost friend.


	26. The Beginning Of A Beautiful Life

Chapter 26

Angel watched the twins sleep in their cribs. It had been two days since Buffy had died. The doctors had proclaimed that the babies could go home since the hospital was in such ruin and the babies were perfectly healthy anyway. Dawn had been a huge relief to have around. She took care of the twins when Angel was just too depressed to even climb from his bed. He hadn't named them, yet. He couldn't decide on any names. Buffy had saved a few names for boys and for girls on their computer, but Angel had never found out which ones were her favorites. Another miraculous thing had happened also. Just after Connor had discovered his mother had died, he disappeared. When Dawn had gone back to the Hyperion to check on Giles and Xander and get some of the baby clothes she knew were there, a two year old Connor was in the arms of Grandpa Giles. Giles had explained that he had just shown up in the lobby. They knew it was Connor because of his hair and his eyes. He was almost a dead ringer for Buffy when she had been that age.

It was amazing that he could feel so depressed when he had a heartbeat in his chest. These were supposed to be the happiest days of his new life. He had healthy tinw babies, he had Connor back where he was supposed to be, he was alive, Dawn was home... But Buffy wasn't here to revel in the happiness. All the Slayers had been returned to their homes, perfectly normal girls. Willow was no longer a witch, Faith wasn't a Slayer, Spike was a human again too, Illyria had gone on, realeasing Fred's soul to be with Wesley. They didn't know if Lorne was ok, but they all had a nagging suspiscion that he was fine and human. No one knew how they knew, they just did.

"Angel?" Dawn asked, coming into the dark den. She was carrying the twins in their carriers and Connor was tagging along behind her. "I need help. The twins are hungry."

Angel sighed and got up. He took the carriers and placed them on the couch. Connor ran up to Angel and hugged his arm tightly. "Daddy!"

"Hey kid." Angel said, kissing his first son's head.

Dawn handed Angel the two bottles out of her back pockets. "I have to go get some more formula. We didn't buy enough because we thought Buffy would... Never mind. You want me to take Connor with?"

"No. He can stay here and help me feed the twins."

"You know, we really need to name them."

"I will."

"Ok, well... I'll be back." Dawn hesitated for a second, but then walked out.

Angel became preoccupied with feeding the twins. Connor tried to help, but he was only two, so his attention span quickly waned and he moved over to the toys Dawn had given him. Angel was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't feel the prescense walk into the room. Connor did though, and he turned around and yelled, "Mommy!"

Angel looked at his son. "Connor, no... She's..."

"Wondering why my house is such a mess." Buffy said. "And why Connor is playing with a baby doll."

"Buffy?" Angel stood up and stared at his dead wife standing before him in a beautiful, long white dress.

"Yeah."

"But..."

"I died. I know. Got a reprieve."

"How?"

"Let's just say I'm not the same Buffy."

"I don't..."

"I'll explain later. Right now, my two year old is trying to rip the skirt off my dress." Buffy bent down and picked up her son. "Hey kiddo, mommy missed you."

"How did you know it was him?"

"I changed him back."  
"You..."

"I'll explain later." Buffy walked over and sat down between her twins. She smiled down at each of them in turn. "Hello my beautiful Macon Andrew." She said to her twin boy. Then to her girl, she said, "Hello my darling little Madison Amanda."

"Those are the names you liked the most?" Angel asked, moving over to stand in front of Buffy. He still didn't believe she was real.  
"Don't think that. I am real."

"You can read my thoughts?"

"Only glimpses. I'll explain later."

"You keep saying that."  
"Because I will. Once everyone is together, I'll explain everything." Buffy set Connor down and he ran over to play with his toys. She stood up and moved over to Angel.

"Are you..."

"I'm real." She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. "And so are you." Angel gently wrapped his arms around Buffy. Once they were tightly in each others embrace, they both began to cry.

"I was so lost without you."  
"I know. I'm so sorry for all of the suffering you were put through. I never wanted it."

"Is your body..."

"No. This is my body. It's just been modified a little."

"Modified how?"

"I'll explain..."

"Later." Angel laughed. "Didn't miss that stuborness."  
"Yes you did."

"Of course I did." Angel wiped away Buffy's tears. "I didn't know what I was going to do without you. When I thought I'd lost you..."

"Shh, it's ok. I'm here now. I'm not going any where for a long time."

Behind them, the door opened and Dawn's voice drifted in to the room. "I'm a dope. I got three blocks away and realized that..." She entered the room and stopped dead, her mouth hanging open. After a minute, she took a tentative step forward and said, "Buffy?"  
"Mommy!" Connor ran up to Buffy. "Come play. Play with me, mommy!"

Buffy picked Connor up. "In a minute kiddo. Mommy's gotta talk to aunt Dawnie. Hey, why don't you go in the living room and play with Mr. Gordo? I saw him sitting on the couch all alone."

"Kay!" Connor waited to be put down and then ran off.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked again, moving closer.

"Hey Dawn." Buffy said. After a minute, the two sisters embraced tightly.

"You were dead! I saw them take you away under a sheet."

"Yeah, but you know I never stay that way." Buffy wiped away one of Dawn's tears.

"Don't joke. We thought it was for good."  
"Well, it was supposed to be."  
"What?"

"I'll explain later. Listen, why don't we round up the kids, get them in the car, and head over to the Hyperion? I need to explain why I'm back."

"Yeah, sure." Angel said.

"I'll get Connor." Dawn said.

"And I'll help you with Madison and Macon." Buffy said, heading over to pick up Madison.

"Madison and Macon?"

"Yeah." Buffy held up Madison. "This is Madison Amanda Summers," She pointed at Macon in Angel's arms. "And that's Macon Andrew Summers."

"I like those."

"I do too."

* * *

Buffy sat on the counter with Madison on one side of her in her carrier and Macon on the other side of her in his carrier. Willow, Spike, Faith, Xander, Giles, Angel, and Dawn holding Connor in her lap all sat around the lobby near Buffy looking at her in shock. She had just finished telling them what had happened and then dropped the bomb that she was going back to the Ancients after the twins' twenty-first birthday.  
"Why?" Xander asked.  
"It was part of the deal to come back." Buffy said. "Bevlieve me, if I had it my way, I'd live out a full and happy life... But it's not in the cards. We just have to make the best out of what time I do have. Besides... twenty-one years is a long time."

"I have a question." Willow said. "What was that key thing? The thing the ghost gave you?"  
"It was the protection for the twins, not a key. The Ancients sent us to that house so we could find the orb and as long as we had the orb in our possesion, the twins would come into this world."

"So technically it was a key." Giles said. "If the twins were the way to get you into the Ancients' world and the orb was meant to protect them, then the orb was the key."  
"Yeah, I guess." Buffy sighed. "Listen... As much fun as it is talking about knowing when I'm going to die with you guys, Connor needs toddler things and we don't have any at the house. He's playing with Dawn's old things and some of the toys we bought the twins. So, Angel, you grab the twins and take them home. They're not supposed to be traveling yet anyway. And I'll grab Connor and Dawn and take them to the nearest Toys-R-Us." Connor clapped his hands and let out a squeal. Buffy smiled and walked over to pick up her son.

"You get toys for me?" Connor asked.

"Of course." Buffy walked over to the twins in their carriers. "Say bye to Macon and Madison."

Connor waved at the twins. "Bye babies. Big Buda love you." He blew them a kiss and then hugged Buffy tightly.

* * *

Later that night, Buffy and Angel were lying in bed with Connor between them when one of the twins began to cry. It set off the other twin and both of them were crying. Angel sighed and started to get out of bed, but Buffy held out her hand. "I'll go. I haven't gotten to spend much time with them." Angel nodded and let Buffy go, laying back down. Buffy went into the nursery and headed over to the two cribs that were side by side. She walked between them and looked down on each of the twins. She felt their diapers and decided they weren't wet. They weren't hungry because they had eaten before they had gone to bed. Maybe... Buffy reached down and picked up Macon and then, very carefully, she reached down and scooped up Madison. Rocking them against her shoulders, she whispered to them that she loved them very much and she didn't ever want to leave them.

The twins began to quiet down and drift back to sleep. Buffy sat down in the recliner chair and rocked them gently. In a flash, she saw what their lives would bring to this world and to Buffy herself and it made her smile how normal their lives would be. She couldn't have asked for more. Holding her babies in her arms, rocking gently, Buffy drifted off to sleep. In her dreams she imagined little moments with her family. Cooking dinner with the help of the twins and Connor. Angel coming home from work and playing in the backyard with the twins. Buffy chasing after Macon and Madison with clothes for their first day of school. Connor playing video games in his room. Uncle Xander bringing over his new wife and presents for the kids. Aunt Willow stopping in to have lunch with Buffy. Spike and Faith, happily married and expecting their first baby.

A smile crept across Buffy's sleeping face. She finally remembered it all. This had been her heaven.

THE END!

* * *

* * *

* * *

A Word From The Author

Yes, sweethearts, this really is the end of the series. I got everyone in a happy place, just the way the story should have ended. But don't worry, there's plenty of other stories you can focus on. I'm not gone forever. And maybe, one day, I'll get so bored that I'll decided to write a little more and continue this little series. But for now, it's the end. Also, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of these stories. You guys totally make the finger cramps and the back aches and the blurry eyes worth it. I hope this satisfied your lust for a good Buffy/Angel story.

All my love,

BuffyL


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